Disclaimer: My name is not J.K. Rowling, I do not live in the U.K., and I am not married, so I think it's safe to say that most things in this story are not mine.
A/N: Hey guys, sorry this chapter took so long….I've been kinda busy, what with geometry and such. I wish I didn't get carsick when I try to do anything worth doing in the car, cause I was on a nine-hour car ride to and from South Carolina over the weekend…suck. Oh well. I had to lock myself in my room until I finished it today, lol. Thank you all soooo so so much for your reviews!
andy17 – Thanks! And thanks again, the ending was one of the few parts of chapter two that I actually liked.
ElizabethChrystal - Thanks bunches, that really boosts my self esteem!
Truelove and Truelove - Wow, you definitely make my life. Ah, gosh, I have to put up with more reviews? Darn, however will I be able to cope? ; ) And I definitely like your new name.
I think I'm turning into one of those people who makes really long authors' notes...sorry bout that...but now, without further ado...
Chapter Three: Making Bets and Conversation
Sirius yawned and rolled onto his side, snuggling under the covers. It felt like his eyes were glued shut. Why was he even awake? What time was it? He rolled back over and groped around blindly, trying to find his watch, which was resting on his side table. When he had it in his hands, he squeezed his eyes tightly, and wrenched them open. He had to do this a couple more times before anything around him came into focus. Sirius yawned again, and looked at his watch. His tired eyes widened. They had twenty minutes to get to class. He fumbled with his watch clasp as he put it on his wrist, and ripped back the curtains on his four-poster. Why hadn't anybody wakened him? Why hadn't—
Oh. Glancing around, Sirius saw that his friends were still asleep. An evil grin formed on his lips; for the first time in his life, he would be able to wake them up. This was going to be fun. But first, he had to wake himself up. He sat back down on his bed and yawned; now that the initial shock of waking up so late was over, Sirius began to wonder if maybe he could go back to sleep for just five more minutes. His eyelids fell, and seemed to cool his burning eyeballs. That felt good.
Sirius slapped himself across the face as hard as he dared. He yelped, but it succeeded in waking him up. "Damn, why did I do that," he stated rather than asked, standing up and massaging his cheek. He looked around, and quietly opened Peter's curtains. He gave his cheek one more rub, winced, and picked up his wand. Sirius muttered a couple words under his breath, and the tip of his wand glowed with heat.
Peter was splayed out on his side, his chubby cheek squished against the pillow, a line of drool on his lip. Sirius grinned and placed his wand tip on the lobe of Peter's ear. It took a moment for the reaction. Peter shot up like a bullet, screaming bloody murder and holding his ear tightly. "Murder! Help! Bloody murder!" He hopped on the cold stone floor for a second before he saw Sirius standing by laughing his head off. "Padfoot!" Peter shoved him. "What's the big idea? Were you trying to pierce my ears again?"
"No. I'm trying to wake you up, it's time for class." He chuckled. "Now go get ready. And I still think you would look pretty with dangly earrings."
Peter scowled, but did as he was told.
Next, Sirius turned his attention to James and Remus. He opened the curtains around their beds, and stood for a moment, considering his options. Then he took a running start and leapt onto Remus's bed, feet on either side of his body, and jumped up and down violently, singing "Zippity Doo Dah" at the top of his lungs as he did so.
"PADFOOT!" was the first word out of Remus's mouth, before he even opened his eyes, as he sat up, instinctively shielding his face. "What exactly are you trying to accomplish here!"
Sirius stopped jumping, and bounced a little as the springs rebounded against his weight. He smiled broadly. "Wake up, sleepyhead!" he said in an incredibly childish voice.
Remus just stared at him, mouth slightly open. He shook his head slightly, and began waving his hands in front of his face as if he were about to sneeze. "Just—you—" he flung his hands forcefully downward. "Just get off my bed!"
Sirius saluted. "Aye, aye, Cap'n!" He jumped a couple more times to get a good start, and leapt onto his own bed, turning to face James, who had been awoken about the same time as Remus.
James' eyes widened considerably, and he tried to wriggle out form under his twisted blankets. "No, please!" he panted. "Please! I'm awake! Have mercy! Have—" His plea was cut off as Sirius jumped across the gap between the beds, and sent James about a foot into the air. Sirius stood straddling James, bouncing up and down. "Wake up, buddy!" Sirius then formed his mouth into a very large "O", and simply stood motionless on the bed, for no particularly apparent reason. This sent James into a fit of hysterical laughter, in the middle of which he quiteintentionally brought his legs up, kicking Sirius directly in the rear, causing him to tumble down on top of James, cheek connecting with nose. Sirius rolled off the bed, grabbing the sheets as his feet hit the floor. He stood clutching his cheek for the second time that morning. He grabbed some robes out of his trunk and threw them on over his pajamas.
"Sorry about that, James."
James smiled from where he was sitting on his bed, head tilted back, pinching his bleeding nose. "'s ok," he said.
"Note to self," Remus stood. "Never sleep later than Padfoot on a weekday."
James and Peter nodded, and Sirius grinned as he backed toward the door. "Well, I'll see you kids in Transfiguration, I'm going to eat." He quickly departed.
"Eat?" Remus looked at the clock on his bedside table. "We have nine minutes to get to class – there's no way."
"This is Sirius, Moony. He always finds time to eat," Peter said as his own stomach growled. He patted it fondly. "Sorry pal, not today; I'll give you an extra-big lunch to make up for it."
Remus raised an eyebrow at James, who shrugged. His nose had finally stopped bleeding, and now he was furiously getting ready. Remus began doing likewise.
"Moony, have you seen my wand?" James asked frantically, searching through his bed sheets. Remus pointed to the floor beside James' trunk as he dug his Transfiguration and Arithmancy books out from under his bed.
"Thanks." James picked it up and ran into the bathroom to brush his teeth.
Three minutes later the boys were sprinting break-neck through the halls, jumping down five flights of stairs, not stopping until they were safely inside the Transfiguration classroom. Immediately, the bell rang.
Professor McGonagall gave them a disapproving glance as they walked in, but didn't say anything. Remus offered her a small smile as he and Peter strode to the back of the room and sat down across the aisle from Sirius, who was sitting straight-backed in his chair, hands in front of him. Remus tilted his head swiftly to the side, mentally congratulating his friend for making it on time.
James took a different route to his seat, going out of his way to walk by Lily's desk, as he so often did. This time, however, he made a point to ignore her, looking out the window as he walked.
Lily stopped writing as he passed, waiting for him to rudely disrupt her concentration. But James continued on. Lily's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise, and her lips pursed thoughtfully. She gave an almost unperceivable shrug, and began writing again. James sat down next to Sirius.
"Do you think she noticed that I ignored her?" He whispered hurriedly as soon as he sat down.
"Well, seeing as you usually get down in front of her on bended knee every class, yeah, she probably did. It's a pity you won't be able to keep this up, though."
"And what does that mean?" James asked indignantly.
"Well, I mean, come on, Prongs, there's no way that you'll be able to ignore her long enough for her to change your mind about you. You could try, but you won't even last a week, let's be realistic here."
"I can too ignore her for that long!"
"No, you can't."
"Yes I can!"
"Alright then…how about we bet on it?"
"I'm in," Remus said from across the aisle.
James narrowed his eyes. "I'm not going to bet on anything that involves Lily. I won't do it."
"Come on…" Sirius said soothingly. "Fifty Galleons that you can't ignore her completely for a week."
"Fifty Galleons?" James said thoughtfully, and paused."I'll think about it."
"Alright!" Sirius said, and holding up his hand, took a rather large bite of what looked like thin air, chewing quickly. Responding to his friends' questioning looks, he said, "I put an invisibility charm on my muffin, so that I could eat breakfast and be in class at the same time."
"Hm…that's a pretty good idea, Padfoot."
Sirius beamed.
After class, Remus parted from his friends and walked slowly down the hall towards Arithmancy. For some strange reason, he had butterflies in his stomach. He halted, and ran his hand down his hair, flattening it from the part. Why was he so nervous? What is wrong with you, Remus? He asked himself. Honestly, it's not like you...like her, or anything...cause you don't, he added firmly. He sighed, and placed his hand on the doorknob. He still couldn't see how he had missed Illy all this time. He pushed the door open, and glanced around.
It took a long minute for him to notice her. No wonder he had never seen her before; Illy was sitting in the very back corner of the room, alone, shadows from the chandelier overhead veiling her almost completely. Her brown hair fell into her face as she leaned over the book she was reading, completely ostracized from the rest of the class. Remus watched as she absentmindedly tucked her hair behind her ear.
A throat was cleared behind Remus. He turned, to see Professor Gerontakis looking pointedly at him. "Would you care to take a seat, Mr. Lupin? Or would you like to teach the class today? I would love to have some time off."
"Oh, no. Sorry, Professor." Remus hesitated a moment longer. Should he sit next to Illy, to show her that he had noticed her? Or would that be coming on a bit too strong? His eyes flicked between the empty seat beside Illy and his own, beside a sixth year Hufflepuff. He bowed his head and hurried over to his own chair. Maybe next class.
A minute later, as Professor Gerontakis began taking up the homework assignments, Illy looked up from her book. Her eyes wandered to the back of Remus's head, as they had done so many times before, and she sighed, resting her head in her hand. To be truthful, she was a little disappointed that he hadn't at least come over to say hi to her. But why did it matter? You're over that, remember? What is wrong with you, Iliana? She asked herself, unaware that a similar thought had just crossed Remus's mind. She shook her head to rid her mind of the thoughts that were threatening to fill it, and turned her attention to the professor.
About half way through class, Illy started contemplating throwing her inkwell at Remus. She chuckled to herself as she fingered it. How uncharacteristic that would be. She wished she had the guts to do it. She frowned, looking at the rest of the class. There was a lull in the lesson, and everyone was chattering away, including Remus. How much Illy wished she could do that. If only she could get over her self consciousness, all her insecurities – she could be like that. But she just wasn't a conversationalist; she had no idea where to start.
Wait; did he just--? She was pulled out of her thoughts by what appeared to be a sideways glance from Remus. No. Or—yes, there, again. She pretended not to notice, but snuck a look out from under her eyelashes. Too late. He was back to his conversation with the guy next to him. But Illy smiled to herself. Maybe she actually had a chance.
A chance? A chance for what? Nothing. Exactly. Now shut up and get back to class.
While all this was traveling through Illy's head in Arithmancy, three-quarters of the Marauders were sitting around a large round table in the top of the North Tower.
"I can't believe I haven't dropped this class yet. It's such a pile of rubbish." James muttered as he glanced mildly around the room. It still looked as it always had, with the exception of the new purple fire crackling in the fireplace. Though there was plenty of light shining in through the windows, dozens of small purple candles floated about two feet from the ceiling, blue flames throwing shining circles on the walls and ceiling, leaving patched shadows on the floor. The candles created a slight purple haze that misted through the room, congesting around the windows and ceiling beams. Heavy purple curtains were tied back on either side of the windows, and identical ones hung from the rafters, extending to about four feet below. Between these curtains hung strings of various dried spices, sending a mild, sweet, burning odor through the nose. On either side of the large fireplace stood a deep glass-fronted cabinet, one containing crystal balls of varying sizes, the other holding many white porcelain teacups and saucers, as well as a gorgeous teapot. Around the room were about half a dozen round tables.
"Yeah, but you're guaranteed to pass," Sirius pointed out as he leaned back in his chair, pulling James' hand with him. "By the way – you're either going to have one son, or own three female…hippogriffs? I can't tell which."
"And it looks like, coincidentally, you'll own one male hippogriff, and never get married." Peter said, tracing a wrinkle in Sirius's palm with his eyes.
"Hear that, Prongs? My hippogriff is going to have fun at your house." He winked.
James rolled his eyes. "I think I'll take the son, thanks. And Wormtail? It looks like you're going to go through a period of indecision, and lose…what?" He consulted his palmistry manual. "Lose a limb. How can you tell all this from somebody's hand? Gah, this is so stupid."
"Yeah," Sirius agreed. "I mean, by the looks of this, you're going to die tomorrow from lack of Lily Evans."
James glared. "Will you just drop it? I know what you're trying to do, and I still haven't taken the bet yet."
"Cause you know you'll lose." Peter taunted.
"No, I won't. I can last a week without Lily – what about summer vacation, huh?"
"Yeah, but during the summer you're not in close proximity to her person, so there's nothing to tempt you. Unless you count that picture of her on your bedside table. And besides, I'm sure you have other ways to cope." Sirius grinned.
James threw his divination book at Sirius, earning a shout and warning from the petite Professor Ridley.
James crossed the room to retrieve his book, and as he sat back down he whispered, "Fine. I'll take the bet. Fifty Galleons from all three of you that I can not talk or look at Lily for a week."
"Can we get that in writing?" Peter asked.
James scribbled on a piece of parchment and signed it, passed it to Peter, who also signed it, and to Sirius, who did likewise, folded it, and stuck it in his pocket. "Cheers."
When the bell rang signifying the end of class, Remus surprised Illy as well as himself as he walked up to her. "Hey."
"Hey," she said, standing and gathering her things. She stood in front of him, waiting for him to say something else.
"Why are you back here all alone?" He asked after a pause.
She shrugged. "It's comfortable. I'm a very…cornerish person."
Remus smiled at this. "To the Great Hall?" he asked, and turned towards the door. Illy got in step and walked with him. "Are you taking any advanced classes this year?" he asked.
She nodded. "Transfiguration, Ancient Runes, and Astronomy. You?"
"Defense Against the Dark Arts – I'm going to take up Transfiguration next year. Ancient Runes and Astronomy? That's different."
"Yeah. I have a strange fascination with space. I always have. Love the stars. And I'm thinking of maybe becoming a code-breaker or something for the Ministry."
"That sounds interesting, what department would that be in?"
"Not sure, really. International Cooperation, maybe? Mysteries?"
"Ah, you could be an Unspeakable."
"Might as well be, I'm already an untouchable."
Remus laughed. "I have no idea what I'll be when I graduate. A bum, probably," he said. How could he be anything else? Who wants a werewolf as an employee?
"I'm sure there's something out there for you," Illy said as they arrived at the top of a second floor staircase.
Yeah, like a cardboard box, Remus thought dejectedly as two first years flew up the stairs, laughing and chasing each other. He was suddenly in a not-so-happy-as-he-was-a-minute-ago mood.
"You know, sometimes I just want to take off points just for them being so annoying," Illy stated as she looked back at the first years.
"I know what you mean," Remus replied. "Wait, you're a prefect? Where's your badge?"
Illy laughed. "I lost it about two months ago. Haven't felt like getting a new one."
They had reached the top of the marble staircase, and descended in silence. At the entrance to the Great Hall, they parted, and went their separate ways.
...and that's that. Hope you liked it! I'm a bit iffy with it myself, but I can be a harsh judge. You know what rhymes with judge? Fudge, and I'll give some to anyone who can recognize the unintentional Jimi Hendrix reference. And of course, this is also merely a ploy to get you all to review...lol, so jump at it!
Nonsensically yours,
Ivy
