REPOSTED CHAPPIE DUE TO THE SITE BEING A WEIRDO... (sorry)
Disclaimer: It's kind of funny how there are so many ways to say, "It's not mine, don't sue me." But, alas, I want to get along with the chappie, so, It's not mine, don't sue me. Please and thank you.
::AN:: No time for review-responses, sorry!
This one's for msj, whose reviews are nice-nice! (lol)
This chap starts off right where the other one ended, just so you know… (lol)
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Faylinn tossed her diary onto the nightstand and picked up her hairbrush, quickly running it through her damp hair before running out of the girl's dormitory and down the stairs into the common room.
"Lily?!" She called out frantically, desperate to speak with her friend.
James, Sirius, Peter, and Remus were the only ones in the room. They turned to her and each exchanged looks of amusement. "What's the rush, Faylinn?" James asked with a raised eyebrow.
"She wrote me a letter-thing while I was sleeping and it says –" She stopped and looked down at her feet.
"What's it say?" James asked.
Faylinn looked up and shrugged. "It's – It's not – It's not that… important…" She stuttered pathetically. Her whole face lit up suddenly when a thought struck her and she gathered James into a great big hug.
"Whoa, woman, calm down!" James laughed as Faylinn twirled him around happily.
She nudged him in the side and grinned. "Guess what, guess what?" She said giddily.
"What?" Peter asked for him.
Faylinn placed a smug look on her face and exclaimed, "I know something you don't know!" before racing out of the portrait hole in a flash.
"She's insane." James mumbled as they watched the portrait hole close behind her.
Remus rubbed his chin. "I wonder what she's so excited about…"
"Something to do with Lily?" Peter piped up.
Sirius grunted and shrugged his shoulders. "I suppose we'll find out eventually. Right, Moony?"
"I suppose." Remus muttered lowly.
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"Lily Evans!" Faylinn called out as she ran to her friend, who sat peacefully at the Gryffindor table eating breakfast.
"Faylinn Tatum!" Lily said in mock-enthusiasm, a small smile on her face. She grinned as Faylinn sat down next to her and grinned happily.
"You're a conniving little devil!" Faylinn said while she gathered nine pieces of bacon onto her plate.
Lily shrugged. "Not really." She mumbled as she watched James and the others walk into the Great hall.
"Whatever." Faylinn shrugged and stuffed a mouthful of food into her mouth. "So what are you going to poo?" She asked, then practically choked and swallowed her food quickly. "Do, I meant, what are you going to do?"
Lily smiled into her plate and gave a tiny shrug. "I don't know. I kind of told you so that you could help me figure it out."
Faylinn paused, her hand in the air to grab her goblet of orange juice. "Er…" She mumbled as she cast a glance to the other side of the table, noticing Gabrielle and Sirius sitting close to each other and giggling. She turned back to Lily and dropped her voice low so that no one else would hear them. "I can listen to you talk, Lils, but I can't tell you what you should or shouldn't do… It wouldn't be right."
"I know," Lily sighed. "But do you think you could –"
"Good morning fellow Gryffindor seventh year females!" Helen Edison exclaimed happily as she took her seat across from Faylinn and Lily.
"Bugger off." Faylinn mumbled under her breath.
Lily shot her friend a look, then turned to Helen. "Hello, Helen. You're exceptionally chipper this morning. Any reason?"
Helen giggled. "I have the best gossip!"
"Dear Merlin." Faylinn groaned, trying desperately to focus on anything but the talkative girl before her.
"It's about Sirius Black!" Helen whispered.
Faylinn choked on her bacon and coughed it out of her mouth and back onto her plate. Ignoring the loud "Ew!" from Lily, she gaped at Helen. "Spill all you know, you big-mouthed girl, you."
Helen paused for a second and blinked dumbly at Faylinn. "Okay, so, anyway!" She continued in her giddy fashion. "I can't really say since it's supposed to be a secret, but it's really big!"
Faylinn wanted to strangle the blonde in front of her. "What?!" She hissed. "You can't just say something like that and then say you can't say it! It's like… waving bacon in front of a person and then eating it on your own instead and going 'Ooh, this is some really good bacon. Too bad you can't have any.' Helen!"
Lily furrowed her brow. "If it's a secret, then she shouldn't tell anyone."
Faylinn scoffed. "Secrets aren't secrets anymore if everyone knows!"
"But no one knows but Helen and Sirius probably, since it has to do with him." Lily pointed out. "So it's still a secret, and it's none of your business."
"Gah!" Faylinn groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. "Whatever, then. But if she won't tell us then I can't stand being around her any longer."
"You can't stand being around her, anyway." Lily whispered under her breath.
Faylinn shrugged and stood up, tugging on Lily's sleeve. "Whatever, Lils. Come on, we must go talk of more important things. For instance, your budding romance in the love department and my dissipating friendship in the Remus department."
Helen looked up from her plate. "Lily? Romance?" She asked expectantly.
"Shut up, Helen." Faylinn shot back as Lily stood up and she ushered her away from the table.
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"So, what are you going to do, Lils?" Faylinn asked as they checked their reflections in the mirrors of the Girls' Lavatory.
"I don't know." Lily mumbled. "I guess I should say something…"
"Yes." Faylinn said with a grin. "But Lils, what are you going to say?"
"I don't know, Faylinn!" Lily grumbled, running her fingers through her hair. She sighed and calmed for a moment. "You know James a good deal, right?"
"No, not really." Faylinn said.
"Well, you know him better than me!"
"In some areas." Faylinn said, nodding. "But in other areas… You know him better than I ever will." She sat on the edge of the sink and swung her legs back and forth merrily, grinning all the while.
"What are you talking about?" Lily scoffed.
"Lily!" Faylinn laughed. "James really likes you! I'm sure, you know, a few years ago, he just thought that you were really pretty and all that and that it would be cool to get with you or whatever… But now he's older and he knows you better, kind of. I think he really cares about you, Lils."
"So…?" Lily asked, biting her lip.
"That's all I'm going to say." Faylinn giggled. "I'm not going to affect your decision in any way."
"FAYLINN!" Lily exclaimed, clearly exasperated. "I'm so confused!"
"I can see that." Faylinn smirked. "Be careful not to break my hairbrush. That's right, just place it down slowly, Miss Evans, and put your hands in the air."
"You watched far too much television at my house." Lily said, shaking her head.
"Right." Faylinn chuckled. "But, anyway… What do you think of James?"
"I don't know…" Lily shrugged.
"You've secretly been crushing on him for years and years." Faylinn filled in for her. "But you 'hate' him at the same time and you can't understand what it is that that one part of you that likes him or loves him or whatever sees in him."
"I don't love him." Lily paused. "Do I?"
"I don't know, Lily! Do I look like an expert on love to you?! Maybe you should be talking to Helen about this!" Faylinn cried throwing her hands in the air.
Lily furrowed her brow and bit her lip as she studied her friend. "What happened over the Winter Holidays with you and Sirius, anyway, Faylinn?"
Faylinn looked down at her hands, her hair falling in her face. "I… We… It's…" She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does, Faylinn." Lily said slowly. "At first you were all… quiet and you kept to yourself. But now you're always cranky and grumpy and you're constantly snapping at everyone."
"I don't mean to…" Faylinn muttered.
"I know, Fay." Lily sighed. "But that's just it. It's not gonna help any if you just bottle up all of your emotions like that. You need to talk to someone. Even if it's not me, you need to talk to someone."
"I want to talk to you." Faylinn said, rubbing her cheek. "But I can't talk about it."
"Did he hurt you?" Lily asked quietly. There was a long pause. "Faylinn, if he hurt you, you need to tell someone."
"He didn't hurt me like that, Lily!" Faylinn said as she shot her a glare.
"Okay." Lily said quietly.
They were silent for w few moments. "James is a good guy, Lils." Faylinn said suddenly. "I know I said I didn't want to affect your decision, but I think you should give him a chance."
Lily shrugged. "Let's just get to class, okay? We really can't afford to be late, right?"
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Faylinn sat in Potions class, her chin resting on her palm, slouching slightly. "Boring…" She mumbled as Professor Armaband droned on.
"This class will be spent practicing the spells listed on the board. Miss Edison, would you like to share that with the class? No, I didn't think so, put it away. As I was saying, you will be placed with a partner to practice these potions. And no, Miss Tatum, you can not choose your own partner, so please put your hand down. You will be assigned a project the next time we meet that will be due shortly before NEWTS. It's to prepare you for your NEWTS, Miss Edison, so you may put your hand down. Miss Tatum, I believe I already told you to put your hand down, you can not choose your own partner, and no, you won't be working with Miss Evans." Professor Armaband stated plainly.
Faylinn paused. "What? Why not?"
"Because you aren't fit to be paired with Miss Evans. I will not place two highly intelligent students together when there are others who need the assistance of said students." The professor replied, raising an eyebrow at Faylinn.
"That's not what I was going to ask, though." Faylinn piped up as the professor was turning away to pick a piece of parchment off of his desk.
"Continue, then, Miss Tatum." Armaband said with a nod of his bald head.
"Well," Faylinn said, tapping her fingers on the table. "I was going to ask that I not be paired with Helen Edison under any circumstances because she really won't shut up about anything and everything that's not her business."
Armaband chuckled slightly, shaking his head. "I apologize for not remembering who I have placed you with, but I assure you, it's not Miss Edison. However, Miss Tatum, please refrain from speaking so profusely about your peers, or I may have to take points."
Faylinn turned to Lily while the professor turned around to write on the board. "Why does he do that?"
"Do what?" Lily whispered back, not taking her eyes off of the teacher.
"Use a word that doesn't fit with what he's saying. Profusely, I ask you!" She whispered back.
Lily frowned slightly, then shook her head and hissed, "Faylinn, just… Just be quiet."
Faylinn nodded and glanced around at her peers. Helen Edison was glaring daggers at her, so she just smiled back sweetly and blew a kiss to her.
"Right!" Armaband exclaimed as he wiped the chalk off his hands and stepped back from the board. "That is the list of partners. Please get into your groups quickly so that we may begin the lesson."
"Faylinn, Faylinn!" Lily hissed suddenly, knocking Faylinn out of the staring contest that she had going with Helen.
"You made me lose!" Faylinn practically shouted.
Lily rolled her eyes. "You're going to have to move, Faylinn. Helen's coming over to sit with me."
"You got stuck with Helen?!" Faylinn laughed, clutching her stomach.
"Better than who you got." Lily whispered before she handed Faylinn her books in a hurry to get her away from her seat.
"What?" Faylinn said blankly as she glanced at the board. "No." She whispered. "No, no, no."
"Have fun." Helen giggled as she sat down in Faylinn's empty seat.
Faylinn turned to face the board and held her breath. Directly next to her name was a small line connecting her name to her partner's.
Sirius Black.
Faylinn blinked at the board a few times, in the hopes that her eyes were playing tricks on her. "Please be seated." She heard from the front of the class and quickly glanced around until her gaze fell on Sirius, hunched over at a table in the back of the room.
"You may begin." Professor Armaband said before taking a seat at his desk.
Faylinn stared fixedly at her notes, refusing to look up from them for even a second. She heard Sirius clear his throat beside her. 'I'm not looking up.' She resolved to herself. 'I'm not looking up and I'm not talking to him.'
"Can I see your notes please?" He asked quietly.
She tossed her parchment in his direction and tapped her fingers rapidly on the desk in front of her. "What's first on the list?" She asked suddenly.
"Polyjuice potion." He replied stiffly.
Faylinn wrinkled her nose. "We have to make a polyjuice potion?"
"No, we just have to know how to make one for the NEWTS. It's part of the study sheet." He answered.
"Oh." She said to the desk, running her finger along a groove. "So, um, what's the first thing on the project sheet?"
She could hear him shuffling his papers. "Oculus Potion. We have to make an Oculus Potion first."
"Ah." Faylinn breathed. "That improves poor eyesight, right?"
"Yeah." He said.
"What's next?"
"Lippitudo Serum."
"That cures inflammation of the eyes, yeah?"
"Yeah."
Faylinn shrugged. "That makes sense."
"Do you think we're supposed to drink it?"
"Which one? The Oculus Potion or the Lippitudo Serum?"
"Either or."
"I don't know. Wouldn't it have some weird effect? We could go blind."
"We could try it, anyway."
"How about no?"
Sirius sighed. "Okay, I'll try it and you can just sit and watch."
Faylinn rolled her eyes and continued to study the small groove in her desk. "I'm not going to watch you cause yourself physical harm."
"You watch me enough." He mumbled.
Her head shot up and she stared ahead of her instead of turning to face him. "What are you talking about?"
"Never mind."
Faylinn shook her head and frowned. "No… What are you talking about?"
"So," Sirius said, ignoring her question, "it says you need powdered daisy petals, pixie dander…" He paused. "Oh, no, that's for the Laetabilis Potion… to make you happy…"
"Sirius." Faylinn said in a warning tone.
"Yeah?" He replied in a half-whisper.
Faylinn sighed. "I don't want to work with you."
There was a pause. "I'm sorry." He said a few moments later.
"It's – It's not…" Faylinn stuttered. "It's not you… I just, I don't want to work with you…"
"I know." He muttered. "I'm sorry."
"I'm just…" She whispered. "It's too uncomfortable is all, you know?"
"I know. I'm sorry."
"But I'm really not all that interested in failing Potions, you know." She breathed.
"I know. I'm –"
"Stop saying that!" She interrupted him.
"I didn't…" He trailed off and then cleared his throat. "I didn't mean to hurt you…"
Faylinn's eyes shot back to the groove in the desk. "I'm not hurt…" She protested lowly.
"Faylinn –"
"What did I say? I'm fine, so you can stop acting like the world revolves around you or something, 'cause it doesn't, okay?" She hissed.
"I talked to Remus." Sirius whispered. "He told me."
"Oh yeah?" She shot back. "What would he know, huh? He doesn't even talk to me anymore, so whatever!"
"Faylinn…"
"I'm just, I think I'm bad with rejection is all…" She whispered. "Like, say… Imagine if James had tried out for the Quidditch team and he hadn't made it. Now, you know James, right? He wouldn't want to be all buddyish with the Quidditch players, eh? No. So, it's kind of like that."
"James doesn't have anything to do with us this time." Sirius whispered back.
"Just let it go." Faylinn said in a low voice. "I have to work with you but whatever. You don't have to speak to me about… anything other than the potions."
"Fine." He said flatly. "I'll just… write a letter to Gabrielle while you do… whatever you do."
Faylinn blinked slowly. "You're going to do what?"
He pulled out a quill and a spare sheet of parchment. "Write a letter to Gabby." He replied.
Faylinn growled and snatched the parchment away from him. "Not on my time, you aren't. Here, copy my notes."
He shrugged. "Fine, then."
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"I'm going to die, Lily!" Faylinn moaned. "I'm going to kill him and then I'm going to die!"
"I'm sorry to hear that, Faylinn." Lily laughed, scribbling away on a piece of parchment. "Helen, can you pass me another ink bottle? I've run out and now my essay is getting splotchy."
"Why don't you like Sirius Black?" Helen asked Faylinn in a low voice as she handed Lily an inkbottle.
Faylinn blinked dumbly at Helen. "I don't know, Helen. But I know why I don't like you. I don't like you because you don't know how to mind your own business."
"Whatever." Helen said, rolling her eyes and flipping the pages in her textbook. She turned to Lily. "So, Lils, what are you going to do about James?"
Faylinn choked on her own breath. "Gah!" She exclaimed and scowled at Lily. "You told her?! Do you want everyone to know or something?!"
"No." Lily shook her head and sighed. "Helen's not going to say anything, Faylinn, so just give it a rest. Besides, you told me to tell her, remember?"
"Give it a rest?!" Faylinn hissed. "What, you mean like, let it have a bit of a lie down?! We're talking about Helen, you twit! She's going to tell everyone!"
"I'm right here, you know." Helen said in a monotone voice.
Faylinn cocked an eyebrow at her. "Yes, well, clearly. But no matter how unfortunate that might be, I still have a right mind to live my life as though you are not a part of it." She smiled smugly. "It makes the world go 'round."
"Faylinn!" Lily snapped. "What is your problem?! Why are you so irritable all of a sudden?!"
"All of a sudden?" Helen chuckled. "Oh, she's been that way for weeks."
"Drop dead, Edison." Faylinn said with a sneer.
"It's because of Sirius." Helen said to Lily. "I don't know what she has against him, but it's obviously about him."
"I know." Lily nodded.
"She's been watching him all the time, too. Have you noticed?" Helen asked.
"Yes, I have." Lily said, nodding some more and rubbing her chin thoughtfully.
"Okay!" Faylinn exclaimed, standing up. "I'm moving to the other side of the common room since you two are so content with talking about me. I'd much rather you do it when I'm not around, thank you, and so goodbye."
"Bye." Lily said with a laugh as Faylinn tripped over the leg of the chair.
Helen smirked at Faylinn and waved her fingers at her. "Toodles!"
Faylinn rolled her eyes and stomped over to the couch, where she sat with her arms folded over her chest and a scowl on her face. "I'm very bored, I hope you know!" She called across the room to Lily and Helen.
"Oh, I know!" Lily laughed, clutching her stomach.
Helen giggled madly. "Oh, Faylinn!" She called from the other side of the room. "Do you think you could go get us something to munch on? Chocolates, maybe? I'm sure that Lupin boy should have some! Or maybe Pettigrew? Heck, you could always ask Black if you can't find the other two!"
"I don't think you really need any more body fat, you cow!" Faylinn shouted as she walked towards the portrait hole. "I'm leaving, okay?!"
"Okay." The other two girls chorused as she stepped through the portrait hole.
"Huge cow…" She mumbled as she walked through the halls. "Stupid, fat, cow." She clenched her fists as she rounded a corner sharply. "Stupid fat, nosybody, cow! Stupid – OOF! OW!"
"Sorry, sorry, I'm sorry." She heard someone say as she tried to sit up on the floor. "Sorry, sorry, I'm – Faylinn?!"
Faylinn shook her head and touched her forehead. "No, I think you're confused. See, I'm Faylinn…"
She heard the voice let out a low chuckle and say, "Are you all right?"
She opened her eyes suddenly when her hearing had adjusted properly. Inches away from her own face were Sirius's shiny gray eyes. "Er…" She said intelligently.
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::AN:: Muahaha, I hoped you all liked this chappie! I'm sorry it's kind of "flighty" or what have you, but I needed to "set things up" a bit and get a few other things back on track and stuff. You understand, oui? Anyways, the next chappie should be rolling along soon, so please review!
SORRY about reposting the chap, but the site was doing a weird-ish thing and my sister told me that it didn't show up on the Alerts thingy or whatever... So, if you already reviewed for this chap, THANK YOU! If not, please review, and REALLY I'm sorry to evryone about the weird mixup thingy! I'll update soon!