Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize from any Harry Potter book. If you don't recognize it: Hey it's mine! Uh… I don't, nor will I ever, own the Cookie Monster or his song. I'll just make that clear for every time I've mentioned him.
Hey guys! First off, I think I got something… similar to a flame. Go check it out in my reviews for TGTYEL! It's actually generalized to all the MWPP (mstt) fics out there so it's not specifically mine… but yea. I feel all elated that that person chose me to rant to. *wipes tear* How sweet… She makes a very good point, though, and I can find no reason to disagree or challenge her.
Right, this is a… fun chapter. Full of laughs and stuff… and Ara and Carl – what will they do?! *dun dun dun* And you know what – it's about time people started mentioning him in their reviews! He only got three mentions the whole time he was in the story, like – 6 chapters ago! (Yes, I'm counting TGTYEL) Actually… I believe Ara mentioned him back when she was moving in to her Aunts and Grandma's place. But other than him – it's a good chapter. Well, I think it is – had fun with it, so I hope you guys have fun too!
And now it's time to figure out whom that voice is! It kept me up at night trying to figure out whom to choose… well, on with the show!!
* * *
Now, to say that Remus was too busy trying to stop his friends from finding his and Jen's room would be true. Was he too busy to remind Sirius to check the map? Of course. Sirius had taken to having a heated argument (quietly of course) with one of the knights who saw it fit to mock Sirius. James, meanwhile, was attempting to move paintings, pushing on the fancy designs that may surround them, or just chatting up its inhabitants. The blasted rat was making his way to Sir Cadogan ("Aak! rodents wonderin' the plains! Get ye back here you scurvy braggarts and rid us of this filth!" etc) Remus was humoured slightly as Wormtail stood on his hind legs, nose sniffing, and whiskers twitching as he examined the frame. Remus went to distract the rat, although Cadogan was doing a good job. The knight was kneeling on all fours at the bottom of his canvas, stabbing at Wormtail. Every time he plunged his sword downward it would disappear behind his brass frame. Even with the added help, Remus bent pick up the rat to stop him from catching onto a draft that may have been issuing from behind the painting.
"Come on Wormtail, leave the nut alone." He said quietly, sparing a glance at Sir Cadogan (the nut) who was brandishing his sword, exclaiming things Remus was positive wasn't even close to old English.
It's very safe to say that even to remotely comprehend what Cadogan called him took all of Remus' brainpower. That is why, as Remus argued later with Sirius, he couldn't remind the ass to check the map.
"My, my, my… what do we have here?"
Remus closed his eyes and took hold of Wormtail with one hand. He stood straight, covering Wormtail with his other hand and turned to the voice, Sirius already muttering all their thoughts.
"Aw shit…"
"My, I wouldn't believe I'd see the Head Boy romping around late at night, past his beddy-by time. Now I thought to myself, I thought: 'Peeves, why would potty-head Potter want to lose his badge?'" A thoughtful look came over the poltergeists face, than he acknowledged the other two. James stood tall, but backed up to where Sirius stood, just a few feet before Remus. "Blockhead, baboon Black!" He said with an evil/funny cackle, flipping upside down and puffing out his cheeks. Remus distractedly thought Peeves did resemble a monkey of sorts for a second…
Sirius' tense shoulders relaxed and he rolled his eyes. "That was funny back in second year, 'pestilent Peeves'." He said flatly. Remus wanted to smack him. They weren't walking to breakfast or anything innocent – if Peeves caused a disturbance, they'd be screwed. He saw James smile out of the corner of his eye. Damn him for encouraging Sirius…
"I'd be careful baboon…" Peeves sang shrilly, causing Remus to perk up, waiting to here Filch's flapping feet or the pitter-patter of Mrs. Norris. Nothing came. Remus was halfway through a sigh of relief when Peeves' shadowed eyes glinted in his direction. Oh damn it all to hell. "Loony, loopy Lupin…" Remus groaned. "I don't think McGonagall will be pleased to hear of all of you out late… I should tell her, I should." Peeves, still upside down, stroked his chin. "Or Filch. Have you seen Filch yet? He is right mad, yes he is. Seems a second year saw it fit to dump his own suds pail on his head, he did." Peeves flipped back up and glided dangerously close to a knight to their left.
Remus saw Sirius strain not to laugh, and James quickly side glance him in a 'we'll laugh about that later' look.
"Well Peeves, we best be going." James said calmly, slowly backing up. Sirius and Remus followed suit. "Got our first classes tomorrow, er today. Goodnight." They all turned and made to run until Peeves zoomed before them, a calculating look scanning the three boys.
"Where oh where is pesky, petty Pettigrew?" In Remus' hands Wormtail curled into a tighter ball, shaking. Remus wanted to flick his little rat nose. Twit was bloody scared… Remus resisted rolling his eyes and tightened his grip.
"We left him Peeves. He wasn't up for it." Remus assured the poltergeist with a polite smile. "But really, we must go, thank you for the lovely chat." Remus smiled pleasantly at the dumbstruck poltergeist and began walking again, around their obstacle.
He kept going, not looking back. With a sound of two men running, Sirius and James caught up. Sirius looked to be debating with himself… Remus sighed and questioned him. "What is it Padfoot?"
Sirius took a minute before answering. "I don't know what I should feel." He said finally. "I want to be relieved, and sigh that we got away… I also want to marvel how you just smiled at Peeves, thanked him and then just left…" He took a breath, then smiled, "but I also want to burst out laughing… I wish I could have seen Filch's face when the pail was dropped on his head!" He laughed.
Remus and James swiftly covered his mouth. He really didn't think before he talked.
"Check the map, Padfoot." James said, not relinquishing his hand from Sirius' mouth. Sirius brought the map out and gave them a thumbs up. That was all James needed to take out his Invisibility cloak and shroud them all.
Remus took his hand off of Wormtail and wiped it on his robes. His hands had gotten sweaty from holding the rat for so long. That and there was little bits of hair on his palms.
"That's nasty, Moony." Sirius remarked when James and him laughed after Remus wiped his hands clean from touching Wormtail, and after he told them why he had done it.
"I'm not the bloody hairball right now." Remus whispered, trying to put Wormtail in one of his pockets of his jeans. Wormtail was resisting. "Just get in there-" Wormtail's squeaks were getting noisy, and Remus had to finally give up before Mrs. Norris found them.
They made it to the Portrait without any more encounters, happily of course, but they hadn't found anything. That had been their goal for the evening. But with Peeves knowing they were up… not a good thing. They could always prank the Slytherins in a couple of days. 'Yes,' thought Remus, 'that would do nicely.' James took off the Invisibility cloak during the last short stretch before the Common Room.
"C is for cookie." James said loud enough for the Fat Lady to hear, but not fully awake to question.
They walked in, Remus singing softly (so the others wouldn't hear), "And that's good enough for me…" Unfortunately though, the Common Room must have been remarkably quiet – no wind outside, no fire crackling inside, not even the Portrait making a click as it closed – because Sirius and James both turned to him with identical looks. Each had their right eyebrow arched while the left furrowed, and both opened their mouths to say something. Evidently they both thought it wise not to question.
Now ignoring them both, Remus gently placed Wormtail on the floor. With the three human Marauders making sure no one was there, Wormtail transformed.
"Oh cookie, cookie, cookie starts with C." Peter sang quietly with a smile.
Sirius and James rolled their eyes, James hiding his smile as Remus clapped Peter on the back with a grin. That was perfect timing. "That was great Peter." Remus said silently. "Did you know that a round cookie with one bite out of it looks like a C?" Him and Peter began to follow James and Sirius up to their dorm.
"Oh yes Remus. A round doughnut with one bite out of it also looks like a C." Peter added intelligently. Sirius groaned while James laughed.
"But it not as good as a cookie!" James pointed out, turning and joining their conversation. "And the moon sometimes looks like a C, but you can't eat that." The three 'cookie boys' sniggered noiselessly.
"I will forever regret the day I asked who the Cookie Monster was at your place Moony." Sirius said, tip-toeing into their dorm. "I didn't expect to have to watch that bloody show…" He glared at the others, "again, and again, and again."
"Hey, not my fault Romulus made sure to permanently engrave it into your… our heads." Remus pointed out, getting changed like the others. He quickly (like James and Peter) threw his clothes into his trunk, unfolded of course, before Sirius could do anything about it.
"Goodnight guys." James yawned, crawling into his bed and closing his curtains.
The others did so, Remus calling goodnight to them. He lay in his bed on his back, arms crossed beneath his head, blankets drawn up mid-chest. The moon does sometimes look like a C… but in a few weeks it'd return to an O…
~ * ~
"Guys, I think I'm going to be sick." Ara moaned the next morning, washing her toothbrush under the faucet. "I mean… I steeled myself up for not seeing him till Christmas…" she put it back in its holder, "but I think I might kiss him at some point."
Jen put an arm over the broken-hearted girl. "Well… if you're going to officially break up with him for sure, do it while you're still considered together." She gave Ara a one-armed squeeze and left the bathroom.
"What the hell kind of advice is that?" Ara called after her. "You are no where as good as your brother with comforting!" She yelled, not knowing Jen had already left the dorm. That did not, however, mean that she didn't hear Ara.
Mel poked her head into the bathroom. "You done in there? I have to use the loo…"Ara could see her bouncing a bit and politely left the bathroom with a smile. She grabbed her tie and put it on, tucking into her vest. "You know," she said thoughtfully, grabbing her robes, looking off into the distance, "this is going to be a really bad day." She concluded, mindlessly pulling on her robes and fixing them so that they fell properly on her body.
"Well, you can't expect it to be all peaches and candy." Lily told her. "Are you sure you want to break up, though? I mean, none of us are going to tell anyone… and as long as he marks you fairly and you don't snog in the halls…" she trailed off seeing that Ara didn't want to be swayed from her decision. "But then again," she added hastily, "it'd just be weird, you know, teacher and all. And you'll eventually get frustrated and upset over 'hiding from the world' so in that case-"
"Lily?" Ara interrupted softly.
"Yes?" Lily asked, letting out a deep breath.
"You're rambling." Ara and Lily gave each other small smiles, disrupted by Ara yelling over her shoulder, "Mel – how long does it take to pee?"
The girls met Jen downstairs and headed to breakfast without the guys. None of them mentioned it, but it felt nice with just the four of them. All the girls… no guys. Maybe they wouldn't sit with them today at breakfast? Ara wondered when they reached the Great Hall.
"Hey," Jen said, stopping them, "do you want to eat by ourselves? I mean… it's been, jeez, almost a year since we've not had at least one of the boys near us…"
Ara smiled and Lily nodded. "I was just thinking that." Mel added.
They walked in and took their seats away from their normal spots on the Gryffindor table. There was no room left for anyone to sit near them, Ara noted humourously, even if they did have to endure second year conversation… After ten or so minutes of eating, the Marauders strolled into the Great Hall. Remus and Sirius walked down the side Ara and Jen were on, while Peter and James kept to Lily and Mel's side.
"Hullo love." James said, kissing Lily's cheek. "Um…" he looked around, as did the other three. "Where are we-"
"I believe there's room down there." Jen pointed down the table to seats about fifteen people away.
"Go on now." Lily said, patting James' stomach. "You don't want to miss breakfast on our first day, do you?"
James looked hurt and befuddled. He looked at the other guys to see what they had to say, but they just shrugged unknowingly. "Oh… kay." Along with the other three, James silently made his way to their usual spot.
"I think we've confused them," Mel said lightly, seeing the boys shooting them puzzled looks as they took their seats. "Should we explain later?"
"I'd like to say the opposite of yes," the girls looked at her humourously for her conscious effort in not saying no, "but they'll be all pouty and brooding if we keep to ourselves." Ara shrugged. "But they're big boys now, they can eat on their own." She looked up and saw the morning owls flying in. Jen got her normal Daily Prophet, and Mel was sent some quills she had forgotten. An owl Ara didn't recognize stopped in front of her and landed on her plate.
"Oh that's just wrong." Jen commented as the owl's feet squished into Ara's scrambled eggs.
With a scrunched up nose, Ara took the parchment, shaking the egg bits from the bottom. The eagle owl took off, back through the high rafters. She opened it up and read, Jen reading over her shoulder.
Arabella –
Surprise, surprise, huh? Well, we'll need to talk this out. Meet me in front of the Great Hall in a few minutes.
Love you always and forever,
Carl
Jen was biting her lip when Ara looked up. "Oh dear…" she mumbled, handing the parchment to Mel so her and Lily could read.
Jen pat her on the back. "Kiss him while you're still an item."
Ara ignored her. "Now I don't know if I should…" Ara said hurriedly, propping her elbow on the table, forehead in hand. Lily and Mel gave her sympathetic looks. She looked to the staff table and saw Dumbledore stand.
"Good morning students. I have one more introduction for you. As she wasn't here last night, it is now my pleasure to introduce our new Divination teacher."
The teacher rose, and Ara's first thought was of a large, glittering insect. There were an assortment of colourful beads strung around her thin neck, and many bangles on her wrists. She wore disgustingly bright purple coloured robes with a musky green shawl. Giant jewelled rings decorated her bony fingers. Ara held back a snort as this new teacher gazed over the student population with an air of foreseen futures and mystical awareness.
"Professor Trelawney." Dumbledore announced. People clapped politely, some sniggered, while others stared at her as if this were all a joke. "Thank you, and the Head of your House should be handing out your schedules now, thank you." Dumbledore sat down and Ara saw that yes, McGonagall was coming down her side of the table first with her schedule. She also saw Adams getting up and leaving through one of the doors behind the staff table.
"Figg." McGonagall dropped her schedule on her lap while she was watching Adams leave. She muttered thanks and saw that her first class was Advanced Transfiguration, followed by Arithmancy.
She groaned. That's not a good Monday morning at all! She thought for a minute – when was Monday morning good? "I'll catch you guys up, k?" The girls nodded, giving her supportive smiles then went back to comparing their schedules.
Ara walked along Gryffindor table, trying to keep her face solemn. Now after that damn note she wasn't sure whether breaking up is what he wants… or what she wants. Ara made it to the doors and strolled on through.
"Hey." She heard Carl's voice call softly from her left. She turned and saw him step away from a statue.
"Hey." Ara replied quietly with a soft smile.
"Walk with me?" Carl asked, turning slightly. Ara walked to his side, and they began walking down the corridor. "Funny how things work out, isn't it?" He clasped his hands behind his back.
"More like shitty." She replied grumpily. Carl threw a look and she apologized adding a 'Professor' at the end of it.
They were silent for a few minutes as they made their way through the corridors. Carl cleared his throat. "Do you take Muggle Studies?" He asked, directing her left, past his office and down the hall to the classroom.
"Mmhm. I have you…" She pulled out her schedule and unfolded it. "Wednesday morning, first thing, then Advanced after lunch."
Carl unlocked his classroom with a simple spell and password and led her inside. "Are you mad at me?" He pulled out a couple of chairs and sat on the desk, feet on the seat. Ara followed suit, propping her feet on the second chair he had pulled out.
"Of course not." She answered. Carl took her hand in his. "Other than it being hypocritical of me if I did, we're not supposed to tell muggles. We thought each other as a muggle." She finished sadly, looking around the classroom.
Carl placed a hand on her cheek and turned her face to him. He shifted closer to her and kissed her lips softly. He moved his hand from her cheek to the back of her head, putting his free hand on her waist, pulling her closer still. Ara responded to the kiss and put one hand in his short hair with the other on his shoulder.
Their soft kiss became more intense and Carl put his hand under her leg and lifted them onto his lap, pulling her closer yet again.
Ara's mind filled with questions and decisions. Hell no, she didn't want to lose this. But… ah dammit it's the 'buts' again. But this really wasn't right. Against the school rules, the law, whatever. But oh – oh he's doing the swirly tongue thing again…
Ara's thought went blank as she let out a soft moan. She inched closer; now near fully on top of him. Oh – here comes the thoughts again… Jen would be proud, she thought wryly… but no, this wasn't right, they haven't really talked – not that that was a truly horrible crime –
Ara pulled back. "Carl?" She asked breathlessly, she slid her legs off his lap and sat back beside him. "We need to decide what to do. Class is in," she checked her watch, "twenty minutes and I still need to get my stuff. Are we going to try this – but not… you know, this," at that she gestured them both, "or are we going to stop it right now?"
Carl put his elbows on his knees and rested his face in his hands. "I really don't know, Arabella." He looked up at her. "I like – love – what we have, but as long as we're both here, we're technically not allowed to do anything near what we just did…"
"Do you want to put it on hold? Wait until summer to see how we feel?" Ara asked gently, swallowing. "But know that we can both date others until then and/or after then…"
Carl was chewing on his tongue, taking everything into account. "I think," he began slowly, "that we should wait until summer." Ara got off the desk, followed by Carl and gave him a hug. "I better not catch you snogging in the halls, though." He joked sadly.
Ara smiled. "Ok, but I prefer empty classrooms anyway." They pulled apart and gave each other a final kiss on the lips. "Did your mum really want you to go to Beauxbatons, instead of Hogwarts?"
Carl laughed. "Oh yea… I had grown up in France for the first few years of my life, so my name was on their list, but my father got a job offer in England when I was 4, so we moved there. But when I turned 11 I got my Beauxbatons and Hogwarts letter. My mum insisted I go to Beauxbatons." Here he rolled his eyes.
"So you played Quidditch right?"
"What made you guess that?" Carl asked with a smile.
"You said you played football." Ara pointed out. "See, I listened."
"Yes, I was actually Captain in my final year. I was a Chaser for your next question." Carl joked.
Ara glared at him. "You know me too well. Ok, ok… what were your House colours and your House name?"
Carl blushed a bit. "Ok, but you can't laugh. My House colours were navy blue and a pale pink." Ara burst out laughing, picturing a sulking 11 year-old Carl being told that he'll have to wear pink. "I said you couldn't laugh." He said unhappily. Ara straightened herself out and wiped her eyes, waving him to continue. "My House was Baleinedos." Ara gave him a bewildered look. Carl sighed. "It's Whaleback in English." (A/N: Actually… Baleinedos isn't a real French word. Like Ravenclaw, right?) Ara nodded.
"So you were a Whale, like I'm a Lion?" Ara asked with a suppressed grin. Carl nodded. "Interesting… Well, I will see you Wednesday morning. You better teach me well."
"I'll make sure to pick on you the most." Carl said sincerely, and kissed her cheek. "So from now on it's Professor or Professor Adams." He told her seriously.
"Yes Professor." She stuck out her hand and Carl shook it. "Until Wednesday then."
"Until Wednesday." Carl smiled.
Ara left, started walking down the hall and glanced at her watch. With a gasp she doubled back. "Professor? Can I ask a favour…"
~ * ~
"Welcome back to your last year at Hogwarts. This is Advanced Transfiguration. First off we will review simple human transfiguration, but then will get into the more difficult human – Black and Potter, please act your age!" McGonagall yelled strictly, fixing them with a stern gaze.
James and Sirius, who had previously (and inconspicuously) been shocking each other with their wands when the other wasn't expecting it, quickly shoved their wands back in their pockets. They faced McGonagall with their 'innocent' faces on.
"Where I can see them." McGonagall growled.
James and Sirius sheepishly put their wands on the middle of their shared desk, trying not to smile at their sniggering friends.
"And leave them there until I say so – Well, welcome to class Miss Figg." McGonagall sighed tiredly. It was only the first class of the year, five minutes into it and she wanted a break.
Everyone turned around and sure enough, there was Arabella Figg awkwardly walking into the class, quietly shutting the door behind her. Ara briskly walked to the front and handed McGonagall a note with a "Sorry Professor." She quickly took her saved seat beside Jen and Remus, in front of James and Sirius.
McGonagall took a quick look at the hastily scribbled note.
Minerva –
Sorry I held up your student, one Arabella Figg. She aided me in locating my classroom (I know, I know, I still haven't gotten used to the school) and I made her late. Terribly sorry – please excuse her absence.
Carl Adams
With a raised eyebrow in Arabella's direction, McGonagall folded the note and placed it on the attendance, marking her 'present'. She turned to the students whom were all waiting for her to continue, not noticing Sirius and James' wands a few inches closer to the edge of their desk.
"As I was saying… we will first review from last year…"
~ * ~
"Open your Inner Eye class – see past the mundane." Professor Trelawney said airily to her class. When everyone first entered the top of the tower, they had all stumbled back from the amount of perfume that had invaded their lungs. The Marauders took seats near a window (opened by Remus) and tried to get some fresh air. Over every lamp were draped heavy scarlet hangings. The classroom's normal cushioned seats from Rosebud's time were exchanged with overly stuffed couches, chairs and single poufs. Trelawney had already given them her introduction, which alone took twenty minutes. She was 'mysteriously' ten minutes late due to the clairvoyant vibes that encircled the room before they came. "This is only review palmistry, my subjects, but since the hand changes with time, the summer would have hindered what you had learned the previous year…" Trelawney (seemingly) glided around the room, picking up people's hands and pointing out their misfortunes ("How dreadful dear… it seems your enthusiasm for life is dropping…")
"Ok Sirius – you do my hand first." James said, giving Sirius his right hand.
"Oooh James – the right hand or the 'hand of the present' – sure you don't want me to look at the left?" He stole a glance at the open page of his textbook. "For 'what you were born with'?"
"I know what I was born with, Padfoot." James said flatly.
"A whole lot of nothing." Sirius had to hold James' hand tighter to avoid being hit. "Ok, ok… let's start with the mounts." He flipped James' hand over, palm up. "Venus." He lightly ran his finger below James' thumb, determining its shape.
James jerked his hand back with a laugh. "That tickles!" He laughed loudly, rubbing his palm on his knee trying to stop the tingly/ticklish feeling that spread over his Mount of Venus. (A/N: sounds bad, doesn't it? Mount of Venus)
"Was it that sensitive?" Sirius asked with an amused smile.
"Yes." James answered, scratching his hand. (A/N: it really is… *she says after doing it to herself*.)
"Well – that probably means you're sensitive about your 'degree of physical and sexual health'," James snorted, "'sensuality'," Sirius wriggled his eyebrows, "'and sense of beauty'." Sirius held back a laugh. "Does Lily not tell you you're pretty often enough?"
James gave him an expressionless look. "Actually," he thought for a second and furrowed his brow, "she doesn't…"
Sirius grabbed his hand back. "Moving onto a different one." He scanned his book, and then traced his finger over the centre of James' palm (or in palmistry, his Rahu).
Unbelievably, James giggled and pulled it back again with a "Stop it!"
"Oh honestly James!" Sirius was getting aggravated. "Just give me your damn hand!" He reached for James' right hand, but James held it high and behind his head, swatting away Sirius' attempts with his left.
"No!" He leaned back on his pouf. "No – you'll get fresh with me again!"
Sirius lost it and burst out laughing. He collapsed, hanging over the side of his chair; his arms drooped over and he laughed into the armrest.
Everyone around them was amused or chortling appreciatively. Trelawney, upset as she was, walked over to the two, ignoring Remus and Peter who were laughing beside James and Sirius.
"What is so comical, my dears?" She asked, hovering over the two.
Sirius brought himself up and sat back in his overstuffed high back chair, red-faced, eyes watering and still having small bouts of laughter. James smiled up at Trelawney. "My hand is ticklish." He stated simply (and a bit childishly), showing her his hand, palm facing her in a 'stop' position. Now, if he had known Trelawney better, he wouldn't have done that.
Her arm snapped out and she grabbed him by the wrist. Taken by surprise, James' instinct was to pull back. On reflex alone, he jerked his hand away, causing Trelawney to stumble, nearly topple over him and let go. The Professor composed herself quickly and fixed her necklaces and shawl.
Although James had sobered up and apologized, Sirius had barked a laugh at James' shock then burst out laughing at James' reaction. Many other people who had been watching laughed as well.
Trelawney turned to Sirius. "May I see your hand, boy?" Sirius, still laughing into the crook of his left elbow that rested on the armrest, offered her his right hand. "So you have presented me with your right hand. Interesting." No one found it too interesting. Sirius was using his other one to keep himself up.
As Sirius wiped his face dry with the sleeve of his robes, Trelawney gasped. "My dear boy!" She cried. "Oh you poor boy – you are troubled!"
Remus snorted, mumbling a "We already knew that…" from behind her, causing a few students whose faces had turned stony at Trelawney's cry, to giggle or chuckle.
"That there-" she pointed a long, painted nail to a crease on Sirius' Life Line, "oh I shouldn't tell… it would be kinder to not say."
"What is it?" Halle Manning, of Hufflepuff, asked, her blue eyes worried. "Professor, tell us." She continued angrily when Trelawney opposed her.
"It is an intercepting line… it is a sign of death…" She whispered, making everyone strain to hear.
"Oh is that all?" Sirius asked. "I thought you were going to say we weren't going to win the Quidditch Cup this year." Obviously relieved, Sirius dramatically wiped his brow.
Trelawney looked sadly at him. "Denial is always the first step." She closed her eyes. "Class is dismissed, you may go. Until after lunch." She opened her eyes. "You there-" she pointed to the blonde girl who had pressed her, "Don't drink out of your cup today."
With a confused look, Halle climbed down the ladder. The boys collected their books quickly and left.
"Were any of you thinking of putting something in her drink?" Remus asked as they set down the staircase, and out of the North Tower.
"Now that you mention it… I had thought of it briefly – but not hers. When are we not thinking of doing something?" James asked, shifting his bag higher onto his shoulder.
"Speaking of pranking…" Sirius' eyes sparkled, but he didn't continue, he looked to be having an inner conversation.
"Yes…" Peter waved a hand, gesturing him to continue.
"I have an idea – but we'll need someone with a cat."
They reached the Great Hall and found the girls already there – and with space for them. They walked down the table and sat down, grabbing sandwiches and pumpkin juice.
"So how were your mornings in… whatever class you had before lunch?" Peter asked, grabbing himself another sandwich.
Lily groaned. "I used to be good at math in school, but this is insane." She took a sip of her juice and pointed to Peter with her pinky. "Numbers are the devil Peter, always remember that." Lily said in a voice that reminded the boys of Trelawney. Peter nodded and joined a different conversation.
They ate in silence for fifteen minutes, not used to eating on a schedule, so they were hungry. During the summer it was always eat whenever you want and snack throughout the day.
"So how was the new teacher?" Jen asked Sirius who promptly broke out into a quiet fit of laughter, covering his mouth with the back of his hand to stop himself from spraying his food. "That good, was she?" Jen concluded with a raised eyebrow.
"No, she predicted Sirius' death." James told them. All the girls' eyes widened.
"After you nearly threw her across the bloody room, Prongs." Remus pointed out. The girls were laughing at James' reddening face. "Brilliant, by the way." He added with a pat on James' back.
"You should have seen his face!" Sirius laughed. "She just snatched his wrist, and James whipped it back so fast!"
"You know James," Lily cut in, eyeing her boyfriend, "I heard about you and Sirius sparking each other in Advanced Transfiguration, now you're abusing the staff?" She raised a comical eyebrow. "Dumbledore must be off his rocker for signing you up for Head Boy."
James stuck out his tongue, and Lily continued. "You can't even bathe yourself without breaking a mirror-" James covered her mouth.
"I said not to tell them that!"
Sirius grinned. "What's this about our dear Lillian having to bathe you James?" He looked quickly between the two of them.
"Yes, do tell." Peter added, coming back into the conversation.
"Oh it's nothing." Jen answered. "Lily told us all about it. Sorry guys, no porn today."
"Oh, the soap thing?" Remus asked. Lily nodded. "Yea, Jen told me about that. Nice job, James."
"How many people know?!" James exclaimed, looking wildly about.
"Just us, I think." Ara answered, looking out of the corner of her eyes, trying to remember if she told anyone. "Yes, just us."
"Well I want to know." Sirius interrupted. "And Peter I'm sure." Peter nodded beside him.
"Now, you're not knowing. No one except Lily should know." James glared at his girlfriend.
"You never mentioned not telling anyone." She said in her defence. "You must have been too gripped by rage to put that in the letter." She said it loud enough to keep James from haring Remus mutter, "I'll tell you later," to Sirius and Peter behind his juice.
"Well, we have to get back up to the North Tower." Remus said, getting up. "See you in Ancient Runes." He kissed Jen's cheek and left with James and Peter. "Coming Sirius?"
"Yea, just a minute." He ran over to where Genie was eating with her friends. "Hey." He nodded to Dakota and Ivani who greeted him warmly.
Genie smiled at him. He barely recognized her with different hair. "Hey Sirius." Her hair was now totally bleached (no more black beneath it) and was streaked bright orange. "How are you? Have you had Divination? Trelawney is brilliant… predicted Petra Van Spyk's death today." Genie told him with a happy smile.
"I never liked Petra…" Dakota put in, "not much of an aura." Sirius didn't recognize the name and it must have shown on his face because she elaborated. "Slytherin Prefect."
Sirius hesitated. "You had her first thing?" Genie nodded. "Yea she predicted my death too… she's," he took a breath and thought for the right word, "special. Well, I'm off to her again today ("Lucky…" – Dakota and Genie) for more fun – so I'll see you later, but we need to catch up… talk." Genie agreed and Sirius left with a kiss on his cheek.
He ran out of the Hall to where his friends were.
"Find her?" Peter asked when he came up to them, and they began walking.
"Yea, her hair is orange now. No wonder I didn't find her sooner." Sirius scratched his head, and started walking away from the others… a perplexed look crossing his face. "What the?" He was speed walking back to the Great Hall when he saw Ara walk out, a scowl on her face.
Bang.
Ara brought her head away from Sirius. "You said it didn't you?" She said angrily. "You said the damn word!" She started hitting his arm repeatedly while the other boys just stood down the hall laughing.
"I'm sorry!" Sirius said, shielding himself with his knapsack. "I said I'm sorry!" He yelled again as she didn't cease her hitting.
"I have a lot of anger to release Black," Ara stopped hitting him, "don't give me a reason to use it." She stomped back into the Great Hall to get her books and meet up with the girls.
Sirius walked back to the others, hand on his head, and gave them a look telling them not to comment. "Anyways, back to Genie. She said that Trelawney predicted another student's death. Some Slytherin Prefect chick." James nodded, making a note to joke about it at the meeting that Friday. "Ready for more palmistry fun?"
"As long as you don't molest my hand again." James jested. Sirius rolled his eyes, shouldering his knapsack again. "Remus, want to be my partner?"
"Sure."
"Traitor. Putting me with Pete-y boy here when you didn't even look at my hand." Sirius sniffed and looked away.
"Yea well," James said sarcastically, putting an arm around Sirius, "we all know you're going to die this year, Padfoot. If not by some odd accident, then by Ara's wrath by the end of the week."
* * *
Yay – a fun chapter!! Woo! My italics went dead near the very end… damn. Oh well – as long as my letters from Carl were italics! Ok, so if you guys want to check out any cool palmistry stuff, cause I found a cool site, and see what the boys were talking about in class. If you check my bio it'll be there. Damn thing won't let me put it here… but it is really informative! Go check it out if you want *smiles*
So other than that… here are my thanks for Chapter 4!
sayuriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii: Aw *wipes tear* I'm the one thing you can look forward to? How nice… but what about the CoS DVD? I bought that today… movie could have been done better (too jumpy) but it was good. Or Book V? 69 days!! You liked the 'excuse to touch your clothes' line? Sounds like something my friend/s would say! Thanks for the review!
Male Volent: Hey – you came back! :):) No I haven't read any of your stories (sorry) but in order to e-mail you, I needed to check your bio for your address :) So your brother doesn't like your music… so instead of dealing with the fact that you have different tastes, he decided to complain to your father? Interesting… is he by any chance your older brother? Hm… thanks for the review, though – it was fun to read!
everblue3: Ok – you're asking for a 20K review for yours with that last review!! It was 12K! Now, of course Hotmail rounds up, so it might have been 11.5 in reality – but just to be nice, we'll say it was 12K. *smirks* I haven't checked my favourites for a long time (nearly a week) so I don't even know if you've updated… Oh yes! I did the quiz – and I'm a Swan!! Woo! (aw… we're buddies!!!) Now, with the French rule things… sure, I took French from age 3 to 16 – but that doesn't mean I have much of an idea what they were. But I did get the gist of it! Didn't even need a dictionary! But yes… I found the rules funny. Were they supposed to be funny? Cause I thought they were… wait – you said it was an amusing book – so I'll take that as yes. And know what? I'm pretty good about the tea thing now! I've only got a week, anyways, until I can have some. :) Yum. Ok, ok – Frisbee teams at college!? It's a sport? I don't play full contact Frisbee – but if you're hyper, and you feel like tackling the person who's holding it – it's ok. Therefore we play Tackle Ultimate Frisbee – just in case one feels the need to tackle. Anywho – yes, haircut nice. But the annoying thing? I can never get it that way again. Never. And believe me, I've tried. But after 20 minutes of frizzing when trying to get it straight and smooth – I grabbed the curling iron. Came out damn nice, too. OMG – Shrek with the 'Muffin Man' part! That and the little 'welcome to Dulop' characters that resembled It's a Small World thing were my favourite parts! And you can't forget the Karaoke part. And about the cute 4th year bodies… the 14 year-olds I've seen can look 17 in a second. And most of them are whorish… but a 14 year-old guy (it first came out 145 – not 14!!) would find anything on legs sexy – they've moved out of the 'I finally coming to terms with girls not being associated with cooties and snapping their bras' to appreciate what girls have. Sirius is one of them. Late bloomers in the maturity department (oh don't I know so many of those…). Yes, the password 'N is for nipple' would have been funny but they couldn't have made it that cause that only came about at the feast, and the password would have been told to the Fat Lady before then. *winks* See how my marvellous brain works? Plus – look at all the fun we had with the Cookie Monster this time! Isn't it great? Oh I'm so happy you don't think that my OC's aren't Snogwarts affiliated! I highly enjoyed that… and she e-mailed me, eh? Total surprise. She loved my review for its second chapter, and says she might use the scene I created. Read it – it's fun. Had me laughing. Yes, I realize that Sirius has a few moments in which you can think "There's been many… gayness things about him lately" sorry. Really – but I do have a couple stories of R/S somewhere… and I don't think they bleed into mine – but after reading them, you tend to pick up even the slightest quirk as something gay-worthy. And I don't mean to offend with that last term there. Actually (you mentioned Sirius as my fave) – my favourite is Remus (understand the Jen/Remus thing? I like writing about them… and writing about them snogging… *lol* I just like saying that… makes people wonder.) Ok – I know Ch. 4 wasn't up to par at some parts… but I did notice Peter wasn't mentioned with the chess thing. I didn't have a care to change it. He was… clipping his toenails. Sounds gross – but I was wondering… they'd have to do that, eh? And what about hair cuts? And I also wondered about getting you period and Quidditch games/practices… Right – I'm not even gonna comment on the Broadway thing… may take another 10 lines… so thanks for the super long and super fun review!! I'll make sure to beat it when you update (if you already haven't…) Tata! Hope you beat 12K this time!
kerry: :) Yes, you'll be casually introduced. Not just slammed in right away. Like Sirius. Remember how Hagrid mentions him in PS (SS)? Although you will be in there sooner than Sirius. You're awesome too Kerry! Hope I get an awesome review this time! Thanks!
Beaver Buddy: You know… I think you may have signed in only once or twice during your whole 'let's review Laminas story' time… *lol* Fun review. No, no – Psyche will be on a grapefruit diet. Oh yes. Grapefruit. All the snow has pretty much melted now… it went up to 15C today! Holy shit it was so hot walking to and from Walmart to get the CoS DVD! But yes – thanks for the review! Ok – I'm back for your second review! I know, I'd give up my normal, boring life for Hogwarts in a second. *snaps finger* Like that. Yes, I haven't added you yet… don't know exactly when I will – but you'll be there for the Ravenclaw/Gryffindor Quidditch game for sure. Thanks again!
~sundust~: Sorry you had to wait (you impatient reviewer you!) but I rather enjoyed the cliff hanger… I really do love your gift this time around… makes me want to go to a shopping mall or something and listen to what people are saying. Thanks for the review – like always!
running-out-of-ink: I really don't think anyone expected Carl to be a teacher at her school, let alone a wizard. I pride myself in that tidbit of coolness. Yes, Pensieve is probably the top of my top 3 favourite stories. Very well done. Oh – re-read TGTYEL? I've done that – nearly have it memorized. First I write it, type it, re-read it a few times for spelling errors, check it on the net to make sure it's good, and then re-read it around chapter 25 or something as I edit it all. Then there're the times where I have to skim to check something, or find a quote that someone says, and I end up reading parts again… Insane I tell you. Anyhwo – I suggest Macbeth and Hamlet as the 2 best Shakespeare books. I didn't like Merchant of Venice… Right then – I like long reviews (for proof – check out everblue3's reviews!), so keep 'em coming!
Liv: Oh yes – I didn't get the rest of the stuff after 'Dear Dean –'… so could you please type it again, I really am highly interested to what was in that! I know someone told me that it didn't work and stuff… I believe Jess told me. Anywho – thanks for trying and everything – and for the review!
Star: Hm – too good, eh? Should I be making my story worse and more cliché? (Not to say it isn't cliché in some aspects…) Thanks for the review!
annette: Well, owl's do get pregnant, but they lay eggs. But the eggs have to grow in them, right? ;);)
Moe23: Yes! Caught you totally off guard! That's what I was going for ;):) Ok then – thanks for the review!
SiriDragon: *lol* Happy someone mentioned the flashing dude. That's never happened to me, but I'm not too upset by that. Ok – I see how a duck can moon you… interesting. Oh God – I hate walking into doors! It's hilarious for it to happen to other people, but is humiliating when it happens to you! Oh – anymore stories? I live vicariously through others here… thanks for the review!!
Crazy Cat Lady: Ok – the whole lyrics thing caught me off guard! I thought you were saying that at first and I was all: "Uh… huh?" But then it clicked – and I laughed. What makes you think people are going to die? I don't kill people… *evil smile* PEOPLE kill people. Thanks for the funky review!
TheSilverLady: Hey – Carl wasn't too good to be true! Actually… I think all my guy characters are too good to be true… hmm. Better add some shitty points about each of them, eh? Ok – we have James 'men are stronger than woman' thing… Remus is a drug dealer on the side, and Sirius is a pimp in Hogsmeade. Bad boys, they are. Like my ideas? (thanks for the review!)
blueskywillow555: Woo! I love it when people are all: "I never saw that coming!" Totally what I was going for! I don't know if I had Sirius flirting with Ara… well, they always sorta do… but not consciously. Have you had one of those relationships where it's total flirt mode with a guy, but you and him are the only two not to notice? Damn odd… *lol* Yea, the gingerbread man was fun… I can just picture Sirius chasing the bastard… Anywho – thanks for the review!
puddy103: Happy you thought Carl had a somewhat bigger part. ;) You're welcome for the small S/A! And thank you for the review!
Irina: Oh don't compare me to JK!!! That is just the ultimate compliment, and I know my stuff needs refining and everything – but thanks for thinking that! Yea, I know (and knew when I started) about the Prefect at 5th year thing, but I really didn't want to do 5th year, and thought I'd just make it un-canon in that sense! Thanks for the review – you're the only one who mentioned that!
LadyArwen: To answer your questions: Yes, cliffhanger. Because. Yes, I really do like tormenting you that much. *lol* I loved the talk of Carl there. I really like knowing what people are actually thinking as I write in some sort of plot or twist in the story. Makes me see how people receive things, cause I'm the only one who knows how it'll work out, right? So it's good to see if it's being portrayed correctly. You know what!? About the dreams of books and stuff – lately I've been having so many dreams that involve anything HP related or similar! It's so weird. What with writing HP, reading HP (ff's), counting down days till Book V (69!!), talking about it with people through e-mails… it's just my life now!! Anywho – thanks for the great review!
chanzo654: Ok – I think baby owls would be so cute… but that would take up a lot of Lily and James' (and anyone else who wants to help) time, don't you think? But I'll let you in on a secret – ready? Ok – don't tell anyone. Sirius and Ara won't be together until after Hogwarts. Shhh… but I just like playing the readers into thinking they will… like, soon. Makes people perceptive and alert when reading, I think. And I do actually know a couple that married their high school sweetheart! They were each other's first relationship! Isn't that the cutest thing? Happy you agree with me on Sirius needing to wait thing, tho! And thanks for the review!
Gryfyndor Girl: *has a super huge grin plastered on her face that just won't come off* I know! So many people didn't see the whole Carl thing coming! *lol* So it was a cliff hanger? Thanks for clearing that up! ;)
LizMaurder4eva: You know, I just realized that your 'Maurder' thing is spelt different from 'Marauder'! I never noticed until I got that e-mail from you!! But really, I checked my chapter 3 reviews, and didn't see any from you! Aw thanks – happy you like Carl. I find him fun. He's actually named after and looks like these twins I met in England a few years ago. Their names were Carl and Adam – so I thought I'd put them together! Isn't that fun? You don't have to keep up with giving me your e-mail – it's saved on my mailing list! :) Thanks for the review!
MandaB: You know what – about the ff writers who never update – I know!! I have (had… I think I finally got fed up with waiting) one who hasn't update since October 18!! Holy crap that's long, eh? 6 months! I'm not one of those evil younger siblings, though. Actually – the snow's practically gone now… not that I mind it – but when it's supposed to be spring, it better not be on my lawn! Anywho – thanks for the review!
Clearbrook: *smiles* Like the shocked face. Thanks for the review!
Lily Smith: Hehehe… evil cliffhanger is right! You know, you're the only one who mentioned Sirius and the first year's part! Thanks – I enjoyed that too. Thanks for the review!
Snuffles 55: Ok – so you're in the story now… I just have to flesh you out a bit… gradually mention you a bit more… then I might have an idea for you… I'll see how things play out first, k? Alright – I put you in Hufflepuff, hope you don't mind. You never mentioned a house, and no one's chosen Hufflepuff… but I don't make them the stupid house, don't worry. I kind of hate it when authors have them like that… I mean, they're hard working and loyal – what's ditzy and jock-ish about that? Anywho – thanks for the review!
Karrottop: I did put up a few loose ends, didn't I? Fun. So let me get this straight – you realized Carl was Prof. Adams when Ara mentioned it to Sirius? So even when Mel figured it out… or was it when she was at Gryffindor table? Thanks for the review!
Amethyst: *smiles hugely* Thanks! I rather enjoy my cliffhanger as well! The fun part was me deciding whom to make it… I was gonna have it either Ara, Carl, Filch or Lily for the longest time… but then Ara would have questioned about Peter, and probably found out about the animagus, and I didn't want that to happen. Then with Carl… well, I want him to first meet Sirius in class. Definitely, so I had to cancel him out. Then I thought Filch – but lots of people thought it was Filch, and I didn't want to write him, or their detentions… but then Lily popped up – and then it was just nothing totally exciting with that… Peeves is always fun, though. Like my analogy? I do. Thanks for the review!
The Cavity: Awww… thanks so much!! I can't help but feel the love! *lol* Don't burn your food on account of me! Thanks for the review!
Feyla: *lol* Everyone is so intent of Sirius and Ara together… that I may just not do it. I kind of don't want to, and still may not… it's you silly people who have it stuck in your minds that they will be! Not me! But you never know… Thanks for the review!
mystikalolo: You know what, I asked a ff writer if they got tired of people saying 'I love it' or 'great job' or 'perfect' and stuff like that… and he said no. I know where he gets it. You really don't get tired of it cause every reviewer writes to you differently, and makes you laugh somehow or blush. But it's good to know you're doing something people enjoy. :) I only found out about the school motto when I read an article about some quiz thing, and apparently everyone knew that and got it right, and I was like: "Oh… it is?" Yes, I find that many people make a character evil that you could have guessed it to be. I never even thought of that with Carl, but now that I do… I'm happy I didn't! Mine was a new road, untravelled! Anywho – thanks!
Kari: Oh God I laughed… did I ever laugh!!! That was great. And if you were the opposite sex – I might just agree. ;););) Thank you for all the compliments! They were certainly different from the usual 'great, update soon' ones I get! Thanks so much! Happy you love Sirius. I think he is the overall favourite character, with Remus and Jen as the favourite couple. Nice how we don't have the main ones up there, eh? I loved your review, thanks!
Jess: Thanks for clearing the Liv thing up – I was wondering what went wrong with her review… You're another person to say "I never thought Carl would go to Hogwarts, let alone be a wizard" and stuff along that line! Many people said that, and it's true! I'm so happy people didn't expect that! Thanks for the review!
SJAngel: Ok – 1. I loved the gingerbread too! 2. I think I have some unfound love for the Cookie Monster… 3. Happy Carl was a major surprise! 4. The purple eater song rules! *Lol* Thanks for the review!! Funfun.
Frankie: *grins and squeals* Thanks for calling me creative!!! I love it! Cause with 68 000 + HP fics out there – it's really hard to be original. Really. Thank you ever so much for the review!
LE: Aw, thanks for taking time to read TGTYEL and IJTL! And I'm happy you're enjoying them, you're welcome for writing them. Thanks!
BrAiNsOtHeR48: *lol* Golly? I haven't heard that word for so long!! Thanks for taking a week and spending it reading my story – I'm flattered! I love hearing people say that their family looks at them odd as they're silently reading on the net, then burst out laughing! Makes me know I've done my job well. Thanks for the review!!
*Phew* Lots to do! Ok – here's for other chapters, and then TGTYEL! Moe23 (thanks!), everblue3 (I did have fun!), Nessie (OMG!! It's been so long!!! Happy belated birthday!!), :emaN (cute, very cute name. :)), the.grey.lady. (you know what… I can find no way to disagree. Kudos for pointing that out – although I'm sure you stopped reading at that point or something…), iluvhp (I absolutely adore your name! It's just… cute.), Elwing Alcyone (Oh I absolutely loved that review – I might just take you up on that offer… you got the review in right before I posted this! Literally 2 seconds before I clicked the 'post it' button thing!).
Ok then people! Wanna do me a favour? Go into my bio and check out the homepage site. It ain't mine (as I explain in my bio) but check it out! Leave a little note for her, too! I already have, and some other people… (one of them's my friend… the one claiming to 'own' Martha… yea, sadly – I know her.) Anywho – check it out, it'll only take a few minutes!
And I bought the Chamber of Secrets DVD yesterday, eh? I wasn't going to for a few days… but boredom got the better of me! I've now watched it and done everything on the second disk. Actually – expect the make your own room thing… but I'll probably do that sometime this weekend. I only need to figure out how to work my DVD rom (nothing happens when I pop it in my brothers pc (that is has DVDrom) and I can't get it to do anything other than show me what it does on my TV!!) Right then… hope you guys have a good week, and I'll be back Easter weekend! You notice how Saturday isn't special? You have Good Friday, Easter Sunday, and Easter Monday! And not to forget the Passover which is the Wednesday before… (sorry for anyone not in that religion… just something I noticed as I looked at my calendar!) Poor Saturday… gets shit on every time, doesn't it?
Anywho – review and tell what you thought about… anything. The chapter, if you checked out my friends' site (I really do recommend it! She's a great artist), CoS DVD, what you ate this morning – anything!! Have fun with your reviews, ok guys?