Disclaimer: Anything you recognise from the huge world of Harry Potter is, unfortunately, not mine.
Petering Away (Dumbledore's Dropslide)
Sure they're my friends, but they're all paired off. I've had girlfriends, but their current relationships just seem more serious, deeper - and I'm jealous. They've been nice to me and we've had fun, but someone else has offered me something better - power. I want to be up on them, I want to be the best for once. Why shouldn't I get my time in the spotlight?
Lily concentrated on the half - finished essay in front of her and dreamed of the time when the NEWTs were finally over. She didn't have long to wait, but she knew that the days wouldn't pass quickly. There was too much work, too many classes, too much homework, and nowhere near enough free time.
James had next to no free time as he had to get the Quidditch team shipshape for their last match of the season. Winning the Quidditch Cup rested on it, and he wanted to keep the cup in his last year as captain.
"Hey Lils, fancy a dip in the lake? The water looks just sparkling today."
Sirius earned himself a your-an-insane-git look from Lily.
"You are joking, right?"
Sirius' face remained nothing but serious.
"No," he tried to look offended. "Why would you think that?"
Lily laughed and replied. "Because the lake is freezing cold." She spoke the words slowly, to get the all too obvious point across.
Sirius chose to ignore the speed and grinned. "That's what you'd think."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "And..."
"And I devised a charm to make it warm."
Lily laughed hysterically, while Sirius stood, completely unfazed, waiting for her to compose herself.
"If it worked, and that's a very big if, we'd be frozen when we got out."
Sirius smirked. "Are you a witch, Lily? Obviously a simple drying charm will do the trick."
Lily sighed (plan foiled). "Can't you go find someone else? I seriously doubt that you'll be able to find anyone as insane as you (except Tanya), but you could put on the charm and easily persuade one of your many admirers."
"I'd like some intelligent company. Ari refuses, James is practising Quidditch, I think..."
Yes, thought Lily. "It may have escaped your notice, oh wise one, but I do believe that you are a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team and should, therefore, be present at the team practise, which started precisely five minutes ago."
"Bugger."
Lily breathed a sigh of relief as Sirius disappeared down the corridor.
Quidditch is another thing they're great at. There's no way I'll ever be able to compete with them at Quidditch. I'm crap at flying - heights aren't really my thing, but imagine how great it must feel to be one of the ones out there winning the games and Quidditch Cup for your house. You're the one on the commentary, you're the one everyone recognises in the corridors, you're the one they all want to be like, and you're the one who everyone admirers just for doing a sport that you love anyway.
"It'll be the Easter holidays soon enough, and then it should soon be hot enough to go swimming without some dodgy charm that you've invented."
Why Sirius wanted to go swimming in the lake was a complete mystery to Remus. He was slightly worried that it had something to do with Sirius' plans to prank the Squid in their third year, and if so, did not want to be in the lake when the Squid retaliated.
As it stood at the present, the rain was beating down, the Gryffindor Quidditch team had re-entered the common room soaked from head to toe and Dumbledore had decided to construct a giant dropslide in the Great Hall.
Many students were too scared to try out the slide and the Slytherin population refused to participate in anything so Muggle.
Peter was too scared to try it, so Remus, Sirius, James, Ari and Lily left him in the common room.
A great time was had by all who had ventured to the Great Hall. Most people were initially scared when they reached the top ledge, but excited and exhilarated once they'd let themselves go. The adrenaline rush felt great and the sliders scrambled back up to the top for a repeat of the carefree feeling.
As it was the weekend, most students wore Muggle clothes, which were a lot easier to slide in than robes. Dumbledore enjoyed sliding, even if he did have to hold his beard away from the slide to prevent friction burns.
The slide also managed, thankfully, to direct Sirius' thoughts away from the lake.
Everyone else was having fun, muggle fun, on the giant dropslide constructed by Dumbledore, the old crackpot, what will he think of next? Anyway, I wandered the corridors on my own and eventually sat down in a deserted classroom to have some time to think, alone. Except that I could hear voices.
I was too far away from the Great Hall, so I crept towards the door of the empty classroom and tiptoed towards to voices.
I stood for a while, just listening, well, earwigging, on the conversation. From what I could hear, it was obviously supposed to be top secret. Some dimwit must've been left to perform the sealing and silencing charms.
Intrigued at what I was hearing, but uneager to become involved, I turned to leave. But, unfortunately, I was slightly too late. One of the rooms occupants stepped outside the door and invited me in.
Ari, Remus, Lily, James and Sirius came back from the Great Hall feeling happy, ecstatic, energetic and eager to remain active for the remainder of the day, not that there was much left of it.
So that's how a roaring Gryffindor club night began. The younger students went to bed and the older students made the most of one of their last free weekends before the NEWTs.
I joined, I joined. They accepted me, not only that, but I felt that they actually needed me. That's why I joined. That and the fact that, underneath, I was scared, scared shitless.
Of course I felt guilty. James, Sirius and Remus were the first people to accept me and now I was going against them. They waltzed into the common room so happy, and started partying the night away.
I wasn't included though, not really. Don't get me wrong; I was at the party. I just get the feeling that they wouldn't have noticed if I hadn't been there.
A/N: A huge thank you to everyone who reviewed - Danz, Auntarctic, dancinquyn (x2), wizardduel2, Jessie xxx, HalfBloodPrincess1492, Nat, Red, RowanCrystal, Ti, child-of-scorpio (x2), holly-evans, kiko loves kurama, Queen of Day Dreams, James and Lily 4eva, YamiClara, lost without a name and siriusforeva.
Thanks! Seriously - it's just great to know that people are reading it! I am hugely sorry that this chapter took so long - the computer repairers firstly ignored our computer for a whole week, then took ages fixing it. Then word wouldn't work so I had to wait. Also, this site tells me it has less words than it actually has. Strange.
Anyway, please review!
Tanya
