Disclaimer: This may come as an enormous, huge, gargantuan, large, big, gigantic, massive, oversize, vast, immense shock to you all—but Harry Potter and co. do not belong to me. They belong to J.K Rowling.
Love is a Funny Thing, Chapter 17
Lily and Hazel both dumped their substantial money onto the ground. It fell like a waterfall, glimmering and shining in the softly comforting firelight. Many bronze Knuts glinted in the light, and there were almost as many sickles—however, Lily noted some gold galleons interspersed in the mix.
James and Sirius were also eagerly spilling out their money a few feet away.
Lily grimaced at the task. This was going take an awfully long time.
"Um." Hazel said cluelessly, staring at the mound of money before her.
"Uh." Lily said, (the pair had such amazing diction).
"I'll…I'll count sickles, you'll count knuts, yeah?" Hazel suggested.
"'Kay." Lily agreed, still looking a bit daunted at the prospect. She began pulling away the bronze pieces into a separate pile in front of her.
"Oy, why did I agree to do this, again?" Hazel questioned, as she began counting sickles.
"Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine… FORTY! Forty-one, forty-two, forty-three—" a voice counted loudly.
"James Potter, shut up!" a very frustrated Lily Evans shrieked from a few feet away. Flyaway wisps of red hair had escaped from her ponytail, and her eyes showed her annoyance.
"Yes, darling Lily-kins!" James shouted cheerfully, while Lily rolled her eyes in exasperation.
"DON'T call me—that horrid name!" shouted Lily, still counting her knuts diligently. Her pile of the small bronze pieces was steadily growing larger as the minutes passed.
"Ok, Lily-kins!"
"I said, don't call me Lily-kins!"
"Ok, Lily-kins!" James repeated, sounding rather like a broken record.
"James! Do NOT, under any circumstances, call me Lily-kins!"
"Ok, Lily-kins!"
"James Potter—"
"SHUT UP!" roared Hazel, Sirius, Michelle, Amanda and Mitchell at the exact same time.
The couple winced sheepishly and quietly went back to their work."Two hundred twenty-five, two hundred twenty-six, two hundred and twenty-eight….two hundred twenty-nine sickles!" cried Sirius loudly, dropping dramatically to the floor in exhaustion.
"Mate, that's not fair!" James said with a frown, although his pile had only a few bronze knuts remaining. "I've got two hundred eighty-three, and I'm still not done!"
"Mate, there are choices we must make in life." Sirius explained to James, putting on a very fake, "wise"—(a.k.a. the "I am Dumbledore" expression, as the Maurauders called it).
"Yes, and what does that have to do with counting money?" asked James, exasperated. He continued counting the coins.
"Well, James—you see, it was a choice, deciding to choose to count the knuts. It may affect the vital aspects of your future lives, and only a true wizard can tell what's best for him, in the money-counting world. What a world!" wailed Sirius loudly, attracting stares from almost everybody in the common room.
"Shhhhhh!" exclaimed Michelle, though she was smiling at her boyfriend's decidedly odd antics.
"But what a material world this has become, darling!" cried Sirius relentlessly, dramatically flinging his arms about.
"Yes, I know, dear!" Michelle exclaimed, getting into the acting-like-a-freak mode with ease. Amanda shot Michelle an amused look—Michelle had sure caught on to the complicated art of acting like a soap opera star.
"But me and you—we'll never need anything but each other!" Sirius exclaimed, putting a hand to his heart.
"Yes, all I need is you, Sirius!" said Michelle, her voice about as sappy as it could possibly be.
By now, most everybody was staring at the couple, who were behaving most oddly. Many were laughing appreciatively at the couple. A few looked madly jealous of Michelle—they would have given anything at all to be Sirius's girlfriend.
"Darling!" Sirius cried, and promptly went in for the cheesiest kiss ever. Michelle wrapped her arms around him, and Lily rolled her eyes and sighed.
Her friends were so, so weird.
And she was only on her 269th knut…
"Done!" Lily and Hazel cried simultaneously, looking at the piles of galleons, sickles, and knuts before them. It hadn't been an easy task, counting.
"Two….more….knuts!" James said wearily, moving a few knuts over and counting them in.
"You sound like a old man walking in the desert, mate. Maybe Moses?" said Sirius, lazily lounging with Michelle on a green velvet couch.
Sirius and Michelle had collapsed there. Sirius was sprawled out all across it, with Michelle lying lazily on top of them. The two looked exceedingly cute together, noted Lily (and exceedingly comfortable, which was more than she could say for herself).
"And how do I sound like an old man wandering in the desert?" questioned James skeptically. And then, "Yes! DONE!" he cried triumphantly.
"You know…" Sirius said unclearly, waving his hands around. "Like an old guy, Moses, in the desert….there's two steps till the promised land…are you with me?" Sirius asked, for James was collapsing on a nearby pouf, Lily settling herself beside him.
"Yes, yes…I'm following you." James replied tiredly, easily slinging an arm around Lily's shoulders.
"So you've got two steps before you get to the promised land…you're old, really skinny and short and wrinkly and—"
"James isn't weird weird-looking!" said Lily defensively.
Sirius laughed. "You keep on believing that. Anyway, you've got two steps left…and you have a wood walking stick in your hand, and you're trampling through the sands of the desert. And you haven't drank for ages, and suddenly you cry out in a really raspy voice, 'Only…only two steps left!"
James raised his eyebrows at Sirius's rather odd analogy.
"Let's announce the total money, and the winner!" Amanda suggested excitedly, bouncing up and down on her own armchair.
She's almost more excited to find out the outcome of this silly competition than we are! Lily thought to herself. Well, she has right to…SHE certainly hasn't counted money for about a zillion hours!
"Okay." Hazel assented, leaning contentedly on Remus.
"How about you both tell your totals to me, and I'll announce the winner!" said Amanda.
"Why?" Lily asked.
"Well, it'll mount excitement…and, they always do that on muggle game shows, don't they, Lily?"
"What're muggle game shows?" Sirius asked interestedly.
"I'll explain it…another time." Lily said, yawning.
Sirius pouted jokingly. Lily couldn't help but let a little giggle escape from her lips.
"Kay, c'mere then." Lily requested. Amanda hurried over, blonde hair bouncing on her shoulders, like always.
Amanda bent down to Lily, and Lily whispered the total in Amanda's ear. Amanda nodded, and then went over to James, who, in turn, whispered his earned amount in Amanda's ear.
Amanda seemed to be trying to have no expression on her face other than one of serenity. She was failing miserably, though. Lily smiled, in spite of herself.
Because it really didn't matter about this whole stupid bet anymore. She couldn't believe that she'd hated James so fully, just at the beginning of the year. So much had changed since then. Whether it was because of the stupid bet, or because of its consequences, or something entirely different—Lily didn't know.
She supposed she'd never know, how she and James had gotten together. It'd sure been a struggle. I mean, Lily thought to herself, inwardly grinning, not many teenage couples can say they've been in a magic carpet crash because the girlfriend had been drunk. Or that they'd had a bet on a kissing booth.
And it didn't matter much if she won, or if she lost. Because the biggest prize, far more than some bet, was sitting right next to her.
The prize was yawning tiredly, his hazel eyes sleepy and adorable. The prize tightened his hold around Lily's shoulders.
James.
He shook Lily out of her reverie. "Lils? Amanda's about to announce the winner."
"Mmm-hmmmm." Lily replied, jolting abruptly out of her stroll down memory lane.
"And the winner isssssssssssssssss…….." Amanda said grandly, trying to draw out the word for as long as possible.
"Just say it already!" said Hazel.
"It is…." Amanda said, trying to earn more and more suspense.
Six pairs of eyes stared at her expectantly.
"It is…the WINNER of the official kissing-both contest/bet…."
By now practically the whole common room was watching Amanda's announcement. Amanda seemed to be basking in the spotlight, hamming it up as much as possible.
"….is…."
Lily sighed with annoyance.
"LILYLEAH EVANS, AND HAZEL AMY HALLOWAY!"
Lily and Hazel looked at each other from across the room, dumbfounded.
"It was a tie, though—it was equal, but Lily and Hazel had one more sickle." Amanda explained.
Sirius and James didn't looked very fazed at losing; Sirius simply stretched out a bit more on the couch and began snogging with Michelle (to the advice of, "Get a room!" by their friends), and James shrugged easily.
Lily had a small smile growing on her features.
"Hey," she said playfully, poking James in the ribs. "Wasn't it YOU who said I'd never beat the Marauders at a kissing booth?"
"Ah, I didn't know what kind of force I was reckoning with, did I? Wasn't fair." James said good-naturedly, grinning.
Lily only smiled, shaking her head.
"Besides, that winning sickle's probably mine."
"Or Snape's." Lily countered jokingly, and watched in amusement as he looked protectively towards her face.
And saw her joking smile, beaming up at him.
"No, I'm pretty sure that sickle's mine."
Hazel sat on a roughly hewn, wood bench in the Owlery, watching the sun go down ever so slowly.
Some people might not think the Owlery was the most relaxing place to be, and, well, they might be right. There was an unpleasant smell that hung about the place, probably from the abundant owl droppings that littered the Owlery.
It was the one place that Hazel used to escape, though. Ever since she'd been in first year, she'd come up here to think and sit, with mostly nobody to disturb her.
After all, it wasn't the nicest place to be, so basically nobody but her thought of coming.
The drafty wind blew slightly through the windows, and caught Hazel's brown hair. She, annoyed, pushed the flyaway back, her normally sparkling eyes angry. Her daintily freckled face was set in a look of determination as she clutched the parchment letter and the accompanying package in her right hand.
Hazel knew she didn't come from the best family in the world, but this was worse than ever. She angrily read the letter again, written in her mother's signature fancy script, on elaborate stationary.
Hazel Amy,
I've enclosed this package of MagicMakeup products, and I hope you will put them to good use. Such as attracting some of Hogwarts' more—well, desirable men.
Now, Hazel, don't interpret this the wrong way. But think about it, sweetie. I don't think this "dating Remus, the werewolf" idea is very good. I know, as you explained, that he can't help it.
But dear, can't you understand that this will only complicate things? You'll never be able to have a steady relationship, because once a month he'll become a werewolf again! He won't be accepted into any respectable job. This "dating Remus" path, I fear, will only lead to a messy break up or financial issues, among others.
I'm sure you can have this Remus boy as a good friend, and I assure you that you can visit him whenever you like—save when he's recovering or transforming, of course. But this relationship of yours is simply impractical. I ask of you to explain this to him, and I am sure he will understand.
Dear, he was right to suggest that this relationship will only lead to struggle and woe. I only want the best for you, Hazel, and dating a man who changes into a werewolf is not the best. I'm sure, with your beauty, you could have your pick of any boy in the castle. Why not choose another, and more suitable man?
I hope your year at Hogwarts has been enjoyable. Hopefully this werewolf nonsense will fade soon.
Love,
Mum
Hazel grimaced angrily, as she watched the sun sink down slower and slower. Its golden and red rays bathed the countryside, which was alive with greenery, in warm color. The rays sifted through the wide, open windows of the Owlery, illuminating the owls squawking about.
Many of Hogwarts' owls sat in their cages, or flew about the large room, visiting friends or purposely flying out of one of the large windows, with a letter attached to their leg.
Owls' feathers of all sizes and colors littered the stone, gray floor. Hazel kicked one in her anger, and only succeeded in stubbing her toe. This made it all the more frustrating, and she let out a sheer noise of agitation.
A large, tawny brown owl looked at her oddly, then resumed its work of flying across the room.
How could my mother be so daft and unfeeling? Hazel wondered angrily, watching the golden-red rays poke their ways through the windows. This is just heartless. Remus is a wonderful boyfriend as I'll EVER get, how dare she suggest that I try to find somebody new?
Hazel knew that her mother just wanted the best for her daughter—but couldn't she see? Remus made Hazel happy, truly happy. When she was with him, she was the epitome of joy.
Sure, they had a few fights here and there, but they were few are far in between. Besides, it was always the best feeling in the world when they made up, as they inevitably did.
Tears stung the corners of Hazel's milk chocolate colored eyes, and she desperately tried to wipe them away. They wormed their way out of her eyes and streamed steadily down her cheeks. She gave up any pretenses of trying not to cry, and became immersed in the all-out, nose-running, eyes-streaming type of sobbing.
She knew her eyes were red from crying, and her nose was running, and that her hair, mussed and uncared for, probably didn't look too great either. But right now, she just didn't care.
Makeup seemed so trivial, now. Makeup and kissing booths and silly, petty arguments about nothing in particular. Everything seemed so…small, in comparison to the real world. And Hazel knew she was just getting a taste of this real world. And it seemed like an awfully sour, bitter place to be.
Because, although Hazel's mother was just one person, the extremely low opinion of half-werewolves was a popular one. It represented most people quite well. Is this how it always is for Remus? Hazel wondered. It's so hard, I wonder how he can stand it at all.
And, the thing was, Hazel wasn't solely crying for her mother's disapproval about her and Remus's relationship. No—it was for Remus. He was so strong, so unflinching. He'd always been there for Hazel, but had to go through so much criticism—not to mention the monthly torture that was transforming into a fully-fledged werewolf.
No, she was crying for him.
She sniffled loudly, attempting to wipe her nose and eyes. There was no tissue in sight, though.
"Need a tissue?"
Hazel turned around, startling from her crying reverie. She couldn't let anybody see her in this terrible state—she was so vulnerable, so upset. She probably looked a few stages worse than horrible, too. She tried to cover her face and hide.
"Hazel."
Hazel listened, trying to identify the voice. She was facing outwards, towards the windows. Somebody—the owner of the voice, obviously—was coming up behind her.
"Y—yeah?" Hazel managed to weakly responded. Her voice sounded awfully unsteady and weak. It was obvious from the tremor in her voice that she'd been crying.
"What's the matter?" the owner of the voice plopped down beside her, concern showing her deep black eyes.
Michelle.
Hazel let out a sigh of relief that it wasn't a random, unknown student.
"Nothing." Hazel said, attempting to sound cheerful and bright, as if she hadn't been all-out sobbing a minute earlier.
Needless to say, she was failing dismally.
"I know it's not nothing, otherwise you wouldn't be crying. Here, want a tissue?" Michelle offered, holding out a tissue box.
Hazel nodded and grabbed a few, hastily wiping away at her face. "Thanks." She said gratefully.
It felt so nice to see Michelle's familiar face, that Hazel could almost have spilled out the story of her mother's letter in an instant. However, she kept her story guarded for the moment, at least.
"What brings you up here, then?" asked Hazel, trying to change the subject.
"Oh. Sirius's not around…and neither is Lily or James, matter of fact." Michelle said, screwing up her face in confusion. "I wonder where they are…do you know?" she asked thoughtfully.
Hazel inwardly winced. Everybody—that is, her, Remus, James, Sirius, Lily, and Amanda—were supposed to be at the first, official "Planning Michelle's Party" meeting. And Hazel had forgotten all about it, in receiving this letter.
Well, it's not like I can go now, with Michelle here, and all. They're probably wondering where I am. Hazel thought tiredly.
"Oh…no, no idea." Hazel replied vaguely. She had never been very good at lying, even if it was the pettiest, smallest white lie.
"Okay." Michelle replied, following Hazel's stare, which was directed towards the sun. It was sinking behind faraway, green hills.
Hazel watched an owl fly out the window, and into the world. It became smaller, and smaller, and smaller still, till it seemed like a barely visible speck, lost in the vast sky. Hazel knew it wasn't good to look at the sun too long, even when it was setting, but she didn't care much.
As the owl disappeared from both girls' view, Michelle turned back to Hazel. Her black, long hair was loose on her Hogwarts robes. Her olive skin was illuminated by the last, weak rays of sun, an her liquid black eyes caught the light as well. She had a dreamy quality about her face, a far-away look.
Michelle turned her face back towards Hazel.
"Can I see the letter?" she asked gently.
Hazel sighed. It was both a plus and a minus to have friends that knew you so well. They could tell when something was wrong, what was wrong, and why it was wrong. Usually.
So obviously when Michelle had seen a sad Hazel with red-rimmed eyes clutching a crushed letter in her fist, she'd known that it was from Hazel's overbearing mother.
It was really a bit like having a seer with you at all times, Hazel thought.
Hazel wordlessly handed the letter over—looking a bit worse for the wear than when she'd first received it.
Its once smooth, crisp parchment was now wrinkled from where Hazel had clutched it so hard. Hazel's tears, which had been falling so freely before, had dropped on the letter, and gotten the neat handwriting smeared and smudged.
Hazel didn't care, though. It wasn't as if she'd ever want to keep that letter. She had half a mind to tie it to a nearby owl's leg, and to order the poor bird to drop it over the Pacific Ocean, or something.
But no, that would be littering, Hazel reminded herself.
Michelle took the letter from Hazel, skimming her eyes over the words, eyes moving back and forth, back and forth.
Finally, Michelle reached the end of the letter. She had a look of compassion on her face that only a true friend could muster. It looked almost as if the letter had been addressed to Michelle, not to Hazel.
Michelle set down the letter on the end of the bench, and set down the letter.
And, wordlessly, she engulfed Hazel in a hug.
As Hazel watched the sun go down, and felt her friend's black, straight hair tickle her cheek, she realized something.
You can't pick your family, but you can pick your friends. Friends, wonderful friends that she was so lucky to have. Friends like Michelle, and Lily, and Amanda and Remus—
And as long as she had friends, she'd be just fine.
Sirius Black was talented at many, many things.
He was talented at schoolwork (although he seldom did his homework, and rarely studied). He was talented at combing his hair exactly the right way (anyway, or so he thought). He was talented at quidditch, and he was very much talented at eating.
(He was also very talented at the complicated art of snogging—Michelle knew this talent particularly well.)
He was talented at recognizing what type of dessert was before him, without even seeing it (James and Remus and Peter would waft a chocolate brownie in front of his nose, while he was blindfolded—he'd wrinkle his nose, sniff, and announce, "Chocolate brownie!"). This was a rather odd talent, but it was a talent none the less.
Sirius had other talents, too. But he'd always known that one of his G-d-given talents was persuading his friends to do the most ridiculous jokes, antics, or plans ever thought of.
Right now, though, this talent was only part-right.
"But guuuuuuys!" Sirius was whining. "It'll be so much fun to have Michelle's party in the Three Broomsticks' private room! It'll be—like, our final, sixth year—celebration!" he explained earnestly.
The four were currently in the Shrieking Shack (much to Lily's protests—it harbored bad memories for her—concerning Remus's transformation, specifically--), discussing party plans.
(Remus and Peter were off in the library—Remus had promised Peter to help him with a particularly difficult essay on the use of dried leeches in the Forgetfulness potion).
And they could not even agree on the smallest detail. All four—Lily, James, Sirius, and Amanda (where was Hazel—possibly the only calm, level headed one? Lily wondered absently) were very opinionated people.
Which made it exceedingly difficult to come to a compromise, because none of them would budge in their firm opinions.
They'd already spent the better part of an hour arguing fiercely over what color the decorations should be (they'd decided on a purple-blue sort of color, that would spell out, in silver letters—Happy Birthday, Michelle!—every minute or so). They were having an even more difficult time deciding where to hold the actual party.
Sirius was all for having Michelle's birthday gala at a large, appropriately decorated (by them, of course) room, which was adjacent to the Three Broomsticks. That way, he figured, there'd be an abundance of drinks (always a plus—though James joked that he wasn't sure Lily could handle a single butterbeer), a cheerful ambiance, and it'd be much better than a regular common room-esque party.
However, this was very much against school rules, sneaking out of the castle on nights and not on designated Hogwarts weekends, etc. And if anybody found out, well…
Lily's shot at Head Girl would most likely be gone with the wind.
And not coming back any time soon.
So, Lily adamantly refused this option; James was on Sirius's side, although he didn't feel as strongly about the cause as Sirius obviously did, and Amanda was wavering somewhere in the middle of the two opinions.
"Sirius, James," Lily began, "If we were caught…what would we do? We might be EXPELLED!"
"Lily, you make expulsion sound worse than death." Sirius said nonchalantly, from where he was sitting on a couched that had springs and stuffing poking out of it. Lily and James sat on another mangled couch, and Amanda reclined on a ripped armchair.
Lily shot him a murderous look.
"Okay, okay…but we WON'T be expelled." James put in, leaning forward.
"And how's that?" questioned Lily skeptically, looking at her boyfriend.
He smiled and grinned at her, shaking his head.
"Lily…you've forgotten that you're dealing with the Marauders themselves, here." Said James, slightly smirking.
This smirking business annoyed Lily a great deal, but she didn't say anything as of yet.
"So?" Lily demanded. "Your inflated egos can't save us from expulsion!"
"Well, maybe they can act as life vests!" said Sirius.
"And when would we be falling into the sea in our plan?" asked Amanda skeptically.
"Dunno…"
"No…" James said (with that smirk still in place!) "…you've forgotten the Maurauder's Map…and the invisibility cloak."
A/N: There it is…I hope you liked it!
I thought it was fairly okay, and the scene with Hazel just kind of…sprung out of nowhere, I suppose. But I hope you all thought it was decent.
And I'm really sorry about the inflated egos/life vests mentioning, but I just HAD to. I don't know, it just popped into my head, and it would NOT go. So, yeah. Um, anyway…
So, we ARE nearing the end. I'm thinking maybe a round 20 chapters…maybe more, maybe less. It's so weird thinking that we're nearly the end.
I mean, I started this story, barely thirteen…and now I'm fourteen and it's still going. I hope my writing has improved (I think it has, reading old chapters over). I thank the wonderful reviewers that have been with this story since the very beginning…I truly couldn't do it without you.
(Oh, and I turned fourteen a few days ago. As a belated birthday present…pleeeaaassseee…review? I love them : - ) and they encourage me to write SO much quicker. And of course the cupcakes with the sprinkles and icing are in order, seeing as it's been my birthday, and all. So, please review!)
Oh, and I wanted to take a poll, just to see what you guys thought. You can write it in your review (hint…hint) or whatever…but I don't know, I thought it'd just be interesting to know.
The poll question is: Which is your favorite OC (character I've made up?). I suppose it should be out of the three main ones, of course: Michelle, Hazel, or Amanda.
So, it'd be really nice if you'd respond to that…thanks!
And now, onto thanking my awesome reviewers! You guys are the best,
Sweet Southern Gal: It might be difficult to remember…but, in the very first chapter of this story, Lily and James made a bet, about the whole booth ordeal. If Lily won, James was supposed to stop bothering her—not talk to her, basically. If James won, Lily was supposed to go out with him. Obviously they're not going to stop talking to each other now, as they're (obviously) boyfriend and girlfriend…so, yeah., Queen Tigress: Yes, I was thinking about the Snivellus kissing part… but I didn't want to revolt my readers.
: - ). You've got the funniest reviews…keep them coming, Steelo: I hope you liked the chapter…and you were right about the girls winning, taniita, Vanessa-Black and Zabini: Yeah, I'm thinking I'll go till chapter 20, maybe, a nice round number. Hmmm., genius04, Miss Lady Marauder: I'm happy you liked the last chapter; I hope you liked this one just as much, Lady Knight 1512: I hope you weren't disappointed by the verdict of the winnings, chlo242: Sorry, I write as quickly as I can, gothicdaisy: Well, the reason the "hating", as you put it, didn't go longer is that James tried to SAVE Lily. So, could you really hate somebody who tried to risk their LIFE for you? Well, not me at least.. : - ) …well, I hope you liked this chapter, anyway, Ashley: Yes, I know, Lily kissing Snape…ack, the things I put these poor characters through, MaDAnDCrZy, Nix707, ms dumplings: The James as a seeker thing is only in the Harry Potter movie, I think…and I go by the books…so, yeah. I'm glad you like the story though, shadowy dreamer: Yeah I know, I got to the kissing booth chapter, finally…after like a zillion months of waiting: - ) , aqua dancer, switchfootlover: I'm happy that you liked the kissing booth chapter, Eimme, Sunny: Awww, thanks… that's a huge compliment for me., crazy turtle: Yeah, I kept worrying that I kept Hazel and Remus's relationship kind of in the dark…but I wrote a bit of Hazel in this chapter, so…yeah. I'll try to write more about them…maybe a scene with them together?...in a later chapter., Chocolate Chipps: Lol…what are hobnobs? I'm glad you like the story, Sunsun18