Disclaimer: I'm too creatively drained to write anything original here, so: Harry Potter and all related works and enterprises do not belong to me (they do, however, belong to J.K Rowling).
Love is a Funny Thing, Chapter 18
It was a lazy sort of night in the girls' dormitory.
Lily was lying on her stomach on her four-poster. Her hair was fanned out, fiery red, contrasting greatly against the solid black of her robes. She was idly flipping through the newest issue of TeenWitch with an expression of detached interest. Her pale heels were slightly kicked up, and she propped up her face with her hand.
Michelle and Hazel were in similar states; both were equally lazy and tired. Michelle looked confused, and her face tilted toward the ceiling, as if the inanimate object would give her all the answers she needed to know to so many questions. Hazel seemed to be in a half doze.
It was storming quite loudly; presently a loud boom of thunder shook the room slightly. Rain poured steadily in the dark sky outside, but it only added to the comfort and coziness of the dormitory.
Lily flipped a page that informed her "WichoCealer is the new you"—a concealer that claimed to naturally conform to your exact skin tone.
The group was much too tired for speaking, and, as such, hadn't spoken in more than an hour.
Suddenly, breaking the half-dream-like, quiet spell, Michelle sat bolt upright, as if she'd just figured something out.
"Where is Amanda?"
Lily and Hazel started a bit from the sound of Michelle's voice.
Lily swung herself into a sitting position. "Isn't she on her…" she abandoned the sentence when she saw Amanda's empty bed.
Hazel stood up, yawning a little, breaking away from her little nap. "I'll check in the bathroom. She's probably there." She offered a little groggily, her hair slightly messy and wearing a pair of old, faded grey pajamas.
Lily and Michelle listened to the soft padding of Hazel's slippers on the bathroom tiles. She has to be here. Where would she be, on a stormy night like this? Lily thought, her brain seeming to move a bit on the slow side.
Oh gosh, she could be in SO many bad situations on a stormy night like tonight, Lily thought worriedly. What if she went on her broom and got struck with a bolt of lighting and she's lying dead on the middle of the quidditch field in the rain and nobody knows and…
Lily shook her head, trying to expel the silly thoughts from her brain.
Hazel returned from the bathroom empty handed. Lily noticed, with some stupidity, that she and Michelle had both been harboring hopeful looks until Hazel shook her head, answering their unasked question. "She isn't in there."
Lily (probably seeming rather insane to her fellow dorm mates) scurried over to the dorm's nearest window. She pressed her cheek to the cool glass but couldn't see; outside it was dark and rainy, and the dorm's light overpowered it.
Suddenly, a particularly large bolt of lighting struck—Lily jumped slightly—illuminating the quidditch pitch briefly. The goal hoops, tall and looming, looked oddly sinister in the sudden, frightening light, but there didn't seem to be any quidditch players who happened to be struck by lightning, lying unconscious on the pitch.
This reassurance of ONE predicament that Amanda surely hadn't suffered didn't give Lily a feeling of relief, though. She turned back to Michelle and Hazel, who were considering the possibilities of Amanda's whereabouts.
They were all truly awake now. Worrying did that to a person.
"Where could she have gone? She didn't tell us she was leaving. I thought she was still here." Hazel said frantically; a shrill edge of panic had crept into her voice.
Michelle was pacing in fast, big circles over their dormitory floor.
Bree and Faye (their dorm mates) looked over, presumably annoyed at the other girls' loud, worried voices and Michelle's pacing.
Bree had opened her perfectly glossed mouth, as if she was about to say something.
Lily shot her best, most fiercely venomous glare towards the two girls. Amanda was MISSING! Who cared about noise and pacing when their FRIEND was gone!
Bree closed her mouth, but still scowled slightly in retaliation.
Lily turned away, satisfied by this accomplishment, no matter how minor it might be.
"Okay," Lily said, feeling rather fainter than usual, but as if it were her role to take charge. "Okay, everyone…we've got to look for her. It's" (Lily checked her wristwatch for clarification) "12:33 and Amanda isn't usually out this late."
A sick feeling was building up in Lily's stomach, and goose bumps sprang up on her exposed arms and shoulders. She wore an old, faded pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt, and presently grabbed her cloak from where it lay on her bed.
She put her cloak on over her pajamas. Her two friends retrieved theirs and did the same. Lily fleetingly thought that she and her friends must look relatively outlandish in their pajamas, coupled with a cloak, but there were matters much more pressing to be attended to.
Such as finding their missing friend.
"Okay," Lily said, trying to keep calm, although she was talking abnormally quickly and her heart was racing, "okay, so do we split up or stay together?" she asked urgently, as the other two fastened their cloaks swiftly.
Hazel looked frantic and blank. Michelle spoke up, her coal black eyes dark with worry. Worry lines (not usually evident) creased her normally smooth, tan skin. She spoke in an urgent, fast tone similar to Lily's.
"Split apart—we'll cover more ground. We'll each search a place for fifteen minutes, then meet back in a designated spot. If we've not found her, we'll just have to look all through the castle…" Michelle swallowed fearfully—creeping about on a dark, stormy night in Hogwarts' cold, stone hallways was clearly not her idea of a fun way to spend the night. But they needed to find Amanda, so it wasn't even an option not to look.
Hazel and Lily nodded.
"Who goes where?" Hazel asked in the same panicked, worried voice.
Lily's heart steadily pounded with worry. Every second that was wasted, Amanda could be…Lily didn't even want to think about the terrible possibilities…
"Michelle—you'll the girls' dormitories. Hazel—common room. Me—" she paused. "I'll get the boys' dormitories." She said, finishing grimly.
"And let's meet back in the common room in" (Lily checked her watch once again) "fifteen minutes, which would make it one in the morning approximately. You've got your watches on, haven't you?" Lily asked.
Hazel and Michelle nodded.
"Oh G-d, guys, I'm so worried." Hazel said in a high-pitched voice, voicing all the girls' thoughts.
Lily quickly gave Hazel and Michelle's hands a squeeze. They squeezed back, hard. Worry was clearly written on their faces.
"Alright—let's go." Michelle whispered, eyes wide with fearfulness.
They all nodded again, and scurried off to their designated places. Lily caught Michelle's black curtain of hair flying, free and loose, behind her, as she raced nimbly and silently to the nearest girls' dormitory. She glimpsed Hazel muttering Lumos! and creeping quietly around the common room, searching behind chairs and on couches and in corners.
Lily flew up the flight of stairs leading to the boys' dormitory. It was a long-standing setting, here at Hogwarts—girls were considered more trustworthy than boys. As such, girls weren't flung off the staircase if they attempted entrance to the boys' dormitory.
Thank G-d for that, Lily thought as she raced up the unfamiliar stairs. Lily didn't really think that Amanda would be in the boys' dormitory, but they needed to make sure.
Her heart seemed to pound with nervousness and worry in synchrony with her pounding footsteps on the stairs. Her feet felt oddly clumsy clothed in her slippers, and she was wearing pajamas and a cloak, but all she could think about was where in the world could Amanda be.
At long last, after racing madly up the stairs, she reached the hallway with doors leading off it. Without wasting any time of nervousness and politeness—she knocked on the first door loudly, hopping from foot to foot anxiously. Her heart still raced.
Answer it, answer it! Lily thought frantically.
A groggy "What?" sounded from behind the door.
Lily's screechy, frantic tone of voice surprised even herself. "Have you seen Amanda Allsbury?"
The gruff, tired voice sounded again. "No, sorry."
Without even bothering with a "good night" or a "thank you", Lily flew to the next door, rapping loudly on the wood. Her heart seemed to beat louder by the second, until she was sure it sounded quite like a gong.
The door was opened, which surprised Lily a little. She quickly spoke, not wanting to waste even a minute. "Do you know where Amanda Allsbury is?" she asked desperately, without waiting to see who it was.
A very tired Remus, clothed in a pair of sweatpants and nothing else, was standing groggily before her, eyes half-closed and hair mussed up. Lily didn't dwell on this, though, nor the fact that she, herself, wore pajamas, a cloak, and slippers.
"Lily?" he asked sleepily.
"Have you seen Amanda?" she asked, louder and in a higher voice than she'd intended.
Remus gestured for her to come in. "No, I haven't. Why, what's wrong?" he asked, with genuine concern.
"We can't find her anywhere." Lily said, wringing her hands now. "She was in our dormitory and now she isn't, we didn't hear her leave…she didn't even TELL us she'd left…Hazel's checking the common room and Michelle's checking the girls' dormitories and oh…have you seen her?" Lily finished, aware that she was babbling but not caring.
Remus's face creased into worry lines, just like the girls' faces had.
"James? Sirius? Peter?" he called into the room.
"Who's at the door?" Peter asked.
"Guys, come here." Said Remus.
Lily contined hopping from one foot to another, biting her lip, wringing her hands.
"Whyyy?" Lily could hear Sirius's whiny voice. "We're having a really good round of exploding snap—"
"Amanda's missing!" Lily shrieked, losing her patience altogether. She felt like crying. Why, oh why hadn't they noticed Amanda leaving? And more important, why hadn't Amanda told them she was leaving? Unless she hadn't had the opportunity…the very thought made Lily sick to her stomach.
The sounds of scrambling bodies were heard. A few seconds later, all three appeared at the door behind Remus. James was in his boxers, as was Sirius—James did have a rather amazing body. However, Lily didn't have time to dwell on even this.
"Lily?" James asked, confused. "What are you doing here? What's happened?"
Lily quickly, hurriedly explained the story to Peter, James and Sirius once again.
Grim looks settled on their faces.
"Definitely sounds dodgy." Sirius pronounced, and all three of his friends nodded solemnly in agreement with his statement.
"Let me just change—I'll come look with you." James said, deftly searching for his cloak and sweatpants and pulling both on. Sirius, Remus, and Peter agreed—all in the same grim, purposeful voice.
"You guys—I just wanted to know if you'd seen her, you don't have to come and look and—maybe Michelle or Amanda's found her or—"
"We're coming." James said in a final, firm, commanding tone.
This made Lily feel at least a little bit better. Everything seemed to be moving so, so slowly—they needed to find Amanda, now. She bit her lip to stop from yelling at the boys to hurry up.
Finally, all four were assembled outside the door, all in pajama pants and their cloaks. James was barefoot, and was carrying something silvery and liquid-looking.
"Invisibility cloak." James explained.
Lily nodded. It might come in handy, after all.
They all made quite a lot of noise, all together. Lily, putting a finger to her lips, and led the boys down the staircase. She quickly held her left arm up to her face—it was a minute to one o'clock. Rushed, nervous worry still pounded hot-blooded through her veins. She hoped with all her heart that her friend had been found. Maybe she was. Maybe Michelle stood already in the common room with Amanda. Maybe Amanda had just been visiting a different dormitory—maybe there had been nothing to worry about in the first place—maybe--
The group of five reached the bottom of the flight of stairs, descending into the dark common room. Dying flames slowly burnt to their deaths in the grate, and half-illuminated the chairs in a sort of eerie, creepy light. Lily had no time to brood over this, though.
A small sound was heard, and Lily nearly jumped out of her very skin. She saw a ghost, maybe, a flash of skin and hair and maybe it was—
Hazel stepped out from the shadows. Lily knew right away that it wasn't Amanda; Hazel was taller and with a rather reed-like frame.
All it took was a solitary shake of her head to let the other five know that Amanda hadn't been found by Hazel.
Waiting was torturous. Terrible scenes, each one worse than the next, plagued her thoughts. Maybe Amanda had been walking, and then been attacked by a drunk troll—maybe she had been kidnapped by some teacher that was really a mass murderer, pretending to be a teacher at Hogwarts, or maybe—
James moved beside Lily and took her hand. Lily noticed that against James's ever-warm hand, hers seemed deathly freezing. Her hand felt nice, at least, a little more reassuring, completely engulfed in his large, warm one.
Lily titled her head, and laid her head on his shoulder. James put a comforting arm around her, rubbing her back.
Every second seemed like an eternity. Every moment, Amanda could be hurt or lost.
She took to making promises in her head with G-d in the moments that followed, as James stroked her back and her brain swam. If we find Amanda, I'll never tell a lie again…I'll be kind and gracious…Oh, please, I'd even be nice to Petunia forever and ever if we found Amanda! Oh, please…please please please please… please please please please please please…"
Another misty shadow of a girl appeared from the dark—Lily's heart leapt, beating wildly—everyone craned their necks desperately, to see who it was—the forehead looked pale, maybe it was Amanda—
The shaft of moonlight disappeared from Michelle's forehead as she swiftly came closer to the five. Lily's heart sank, and Michelle wore the same, defeated expression as the others.
"Not there." Whispered Michelle, worry lines still evident in her face.
There was a brief pause of silence. Nobody knew what to do.
James took charge, and Lily loved him for it. His strong warm hand still gripped hers firmly. "Okay, here's what we'll do," he said urgently, speaking to the whole group. He was a naturally born leader, Lily realized with a certain amount of respect. "We'll split up—since seven's not even, two groups of two and a group of three—Remus and Hazel, Sirius and Michelle, then me, Lily and Peter. We'll each go off in different directions and search for her." Said James.
"If you find Amanda—anyone know a spell that would let us know when somebody else's found her?" James asked quickly.
Lily nodded. She was already pulling her wand out and conjuring three dull pink—they looked like an odd sort of belts, really—out of thin air.
"One person per group should wear one of these," Lily ordered, fastening the first dull pink thing around her own t-shirted waist. "If you've found her—do this—"
She pressed the tip of her wand onto her own belt, and whispered, "Invenio!" All three belts buzzed slightly with warmth and lit up in a bright pink color.
She quickly murmured "Artero.", pressing her wand to the belt-thing once again, and the light immediately faded from the three belts.
James nodded, satisfied, looking rather admiringly at his girlfriend. Michelle took a belt and looped it around her small waist, as did Hazel. They covered their cloaks over the "belts", however, so the glow wouldn't be visible to unwanted people—such as teachers, or possibly Filch, the mean, nosy caretaker.
James nodded, and all of them quickly and deftly passed through the portrait hole. The Fat Lady looked sternly at them, but the group paid no mind to her.
Lily knew she had an extremely large chance of losing her chances for head girl, but it didn't matter next to the urgent need of finding Amanda—and quickly.
"My group goes this way—" James pointed down a corridor to the right, dark and dangerous-looking, "Sirius's goes that way"—another corridor, this time directly in front of them—"and Remus's, that way"—he pointed to a corridor that branched off to the left.
"Oh! And if the belt lights up—we all meet in the common room. We've got to wait for each other." Michelle piped up.
They all nodded in grim determination, and without further words, each scurried off in their own direction.
It was difficult maneuvering an invisibility cloak with three sixth years, Lily thought, heart still bumping loudly, as they made their way—at an ant-like pace—down the dark, unlit hallway. James was easily six feet, so he had to crouch down to about Lily's height. Peter, although short, possessed the unfortunate trait of clumsiness, which made progress much slower going. He would stumble over the hemline of the invisibility cloak unintentionally, or trip over his own two feet.
At any other time, Lily probably would have felt badly for Peter. However in this situation, she had no time to muse over people's feelings. It was about finding her best FRIEND, Merlin, who might have been hurt or lost or—Lily's mind reverted to the same, old, horrid possibilities.
She tried not to think in such a negative manner, but it was awfully difficult not to.
Lily was pressed into James's side. Peter shuffled in front of them both. All had their wands out, and their eyes look keenly back and forth, searching the hallway for signs of Amanda. Lily tried to keep her eyes peeled, but it was so difficult. For the most part, the hallways were completely black with dark, and Lily now had a good sense of what it felt like to be blind.
The belt around her waist stayed cool and lifelessly still. Her stomach still felt sickly and her heart seemed to jump to her throat at any sign of movement from the depths of the long, seemingly endless corridor.
Her eyes flashed from side to side, trying to spot Amanda in the dark shadows. Suddenly, a large crack of lightning flashed through the room, illuminating everything in terrifyingly brilliant white light.
Lily tried to take advantage of this clear light by craning her neck so she could look a bit farther down the hallway. However, Peter had jumped out of shock and fright when the bolt of lightning had flashed.
Peter stumbled, causing Lily to fall to the floor, who brought James with her. There was a loud thump of human body hitting cold gray stone—Lily cringed. This would surely bring hordes of teachers, just running to catch (and possibly expel) them.
James, thinking practically, swiftly pushed the invisibility cloak over Peter's legs and Lily's arm, so that they at least wouldn't be seen. Lily's heart beat so loudly and quickly, she wasn't quite sure if it was safe for her heart to beat like that. She dug her nails into her own ankles in anxiousness and worry.
After a few moments, James silently nodded to the other two. They took it as a cue to stand up, and did so. Once again, all three were maneuvering their way down the corridor, jumping at slight noise and worry consuming them.
"Let's check this classroom." James muttered in a whisper, nodding his head at a nearby Transfiguration room. It looked oddly sinister, shadowed by the noise and light of the storm.
Peter edged the door open (surprisingly without any unwanted creaks), and the group of three cautiously stepped in.
The room was briefly lit by a shock of lightning; Lily took this opportunity and looked around to see if Amanda was there.
She wasn't, and the dead weight of unhidden disappointment fell in Lily's stomach.
"She's not here." Lily whispered unnecessarily.
James and Peter nodded, and all three backed out of the classroom.
The walked along like that for awhile, and Lily became more frantic and worried by the minute. This wasn't getting them anywhere, they were going at a snail's pace, they weren't going to find Amanda—
"You guys!" Lily whispered, something dawning on her. "The Marauders' Map!"
The title spoke for itself. James quickly withdrew a piece of folded parchment from his cloak's pocket.
Lily lit her wand (murmuring Lumos!), and shone it on the parchment.
James pressed his wand tip to the parchment, and, for some odd reason, Lily thought, muttered, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
Well, obviously, Lily thought sarcastically. It's one-something in the morning, it's a raging storm, and we're all creeping around, under an invisibility cloak when we should be in bed, breaking about fifty school rules in the process.
James had unfolded the map, and the light revealed dots—labeled with names—moving around out of their own accord.
James spoke in a whisper.
"Look." He said, pointing his finger to a black dot, labeled, 'Amanda Allsbury.'
Lily's heart sped up. The dot was moving; that meant Amanda was alive, right? She had to be, she just had to, she—
Lily forced herself to calm down. James was figuring out where they currently stood, relative to Amanda's whereabouts. He traced several secret passageways with her fingers, a small frown of concentration of his face.
While James studied the map, Lily noted a few more dots wandering around. Aside from the other two groups of their friends, there was Dumbledore—walking about in his office—Filch—wandering a corridor far from theirs—and some boy named 'Alexander Burlington' wandering back to the Ravenclaw dormitory room.
"She's in the Potions corridor." James said.
"Why would Amanda be in the Potions corridor at this time of night? Peter wondered aloud.
"No idea, but I expect we'll find out." Said James rather grimly. "C'mon, let's go
follow me."
Several secret passageways, corridors and doorways later, the three had finally reached the Potions corridor. James still had the map out; and was guiding them just a little farther. Lily felt wide awake, though it was approximately two in the morning—her stomach pained her, though not because of a sickness.
She needed to know what in the world had happened to Amanda.
"Just a bit farther." James said in a whisper, startling Lily so she jumped slightly. The group hadn't spoken at all in the past fifteen-twenty minutes.
Lily's heart beat anxiously. She heard an echo of a laugh bounce of the otherwise empty, stone corridors—this shocked them all, and Lily had to restrain herself from jumping from shock a second time this evening.
Another laugh sounded. Lily's pulse sped up.
Lily pointed her wand straight out, in order to illuminate whatever might be the thing laughing—it was probably Peeves, there to taunt and rat out students again--
In the wake of Lily's narrow, yellow beam of wandlight, a girl stood. Her pale, pale hair was straightened, and she wore ruby lipstick that had smudged and smeared. Heavy mascara and eyeliner ringed her light, ice-blue eyes—her skin was fair.
The girl wore a revealing black dress—the skirt was short, coming up mid-thigh, the neck was low, showing pale skinned cleavage, and it was tight, so that it conformed to the girl's shapely body. The girl wore black, high heels that she seemed to be teetering wildly on.
If Lily hadn't known better, she'd have thought it was some slut.
As the blonde girl standing before them (seemingly unconcerned about the beam of wandlight pointed her way) hiccupped and smiled in a carefree way, Lily gasped and put a hand to her mouth in utter shock.
"Oh…G-d…" Lily whispered.
James and Peter were silent, eyes wide.
"…that's…that's…."
Lily seemed unable to finish her sentence.
A roll of thunder roared through the castle, but went unnoticed by the three shocked sixth years staring at the blonde girl. Lily's wand remained trained on her.
"…oh my G-d, Amanda." Lily whispered in an unnaturally high voice. She looked as if she might cry.
Forgetting all cautiousness of before, Lily rushed forward in intense worry.
James and Peter approached at a slower pace, like people approaching an animal that might bite.
Only when Lily was right close to her, did Amanda seem to notice the other girl. She waved cheerily, teetering and tottering on her spiky black heels.
"Heellooo, Lileee!"
Seeing Amanda up close made Lily want to cry all over again—so strong was the urge that she had to fight desperately to keep her tears at bay. Although Amanda was pretty, her makeup was smudged and she looked exactly like a desperate slut—and that wasn't who Amanda really was.
"Amanda." Lily said, putting her arms on Amanda's bare shoulders, in order to stabilize the presumably drunk girl.
"Heey, Lileee! Heew's it goooowwwing?" Amanda inquired happily, teetering on her heels so badly that she nearly fell over—almost taking Lily with her.
"Amanda. Sit down." Lily said in the firmest tone she could muster.
"Nooohweee!" Amanda cried drunkenly.
James quickly appeared beside Lily, helping her settle Amanda to the floor, with certain amounts of protest from the blonde-haired girl.
One could easily see up Amanda's dress once she sat. She looked oddly childlike, despite her provocative appearance. Lily pulled off the spiky black heels. They looked to be at least six inches—Amanda's feet were covered in welts and red marks from the strap and pressure of the shoe.
Lily set the heels aside, all the time trying to remain level-headed. Lily quickly handed Amanda her cloak, feeling that Amanda had better cover up.
Just then, Lily noticed Amanda brandishing an empty, large, brown bottle. "Ahhm a paaayyyh-reet, Lihleeeeeyyyeeeee!" Amanda said happily, thrusting the bottle towards Lily's face.
"Oh G-d," Lily said in an urgent undertone to James, "what the hell did she have that made her like this? Is she going to be alright?"
"I don't know," James replied in the same sort of whisper, "I'll get the bottle and have a look at the label."
Lily nodded. Peter, (who had been right beside the other two, listening to the conversation) and James attempted to wrench the bottle from Amanda's grasp. Amanda whined unhappily, trying to keep hold of the bottle.
Lily's heart beat even more anxiously, a painful feeling settling into her heart. To see her friend—one of her very best friends in the world—drunk, like this, made her heart hurt.
After a few unsuccessful attempts of groping the thin air (though drunk, Amanda's Quidditch reflexes were hard-drilled into her body), James finally got ahold of the large brown bottle. He quickly read the label, and visibly paled.
If James thinks it's bad, it's got to be horrible, Lily thought, heart going crazy. Oh G-d, Amanda has to be okay…she can't not…
Wordlessly, James handed the bottle solemnly to Lily.
Amanda sat, whining unhappily on the floor, as Lily quickly devoured the print with her eyes.
The Mountainmen Firewhiskey
"So hot, it nearly burns your throat!"
(For giants and only humans exceptionally talented at holding their alcohol)
Lily read quickly, her eyes searching for the fact that was so incredibly important to the situation…and there it was, written in small, fine print…
Only a sixth of this bottle should be drunk by those of humankind.
A/N: Ooooh, guys, I'm really sorry for the cliffhanger. But, WAHOOO! I UPDATED THIS STORY! I thought I wouldn't be able to till August but…yeaaahhh, I updated! Yaaay!
I'm horribly sorry for making you guys wait a long time for this chapter…it's been…(calculates)…72 days. Oooh, that sounds like AGES. Ten weeks…oooh, I'm soooooo sorry.
So…yeah, I really hope you like the chapter. Guys, I'm sad. We're nearing the end…this story's been around for over a year. Wow. I'm going to miss this story once it's over; don't worry, though, I'm planning a sequel, and will let you know about it when the time comes. I'm think this story will come out to be a round twenty chapters (maybe an epilogue after… hmmm…decisions, decisions), or a tad more.
Onto: reviewers. I love you guys SO much. Those who've followed this story, reviewed, encouraged me…I can't put into words how much it means to me, coming back from a tiring day and getting encouraging reviews from you guys :). I'm really grateful. I'd love if you reviewed…whether you like it, or hate it, I'd just like to know your opinion. I love knowing who reads this story. (Plus they make me write faster).
Thank you SO much to:
Brilliant-author: I will, I will (keep writing, that is…)
Akagenius04: I'm sad the story's ending, too :(. Through writing, you kind of…find out truths about yourself, what you're scared of, what you take joy in, that kind of thing. I also feel really bad for Hazel.
Shadowy dreamer: Oh, thanks for the congratulations on winning IcyPanther's story contest :). I know, I know—poor Hazel.
Crazy turtle: Yeah, I really like Michelle's character and how it goes with Sirius's, but Hazel and Remus seem more…subtle, I guess. Well, you'll (hopefully) like that this chapter focuses one somebody other than Lily/James.
Rebel Rose: Oh my gosh! I used to watch the Amanda show…yeah, and I remember Penelope—with the short, dark-haired wig (who was really Amanda) and claimed to be "Amanda's number one fan)…ah, good old days. That's so cool that your name means princess :). I feel like your name's Sarah, but I don't know if you've ever told me. My name is Miriam, and it's believed to mean bitter waters. Yeah. What a lovely meaning…
Oh and sorry about the lack of brownies. I know, I know, Aunt Thelma Helumpathump will be ashamed…what a bad niece I am. Thanks for the birthday wishes :), and thanks for reviewing…hilarious review, as always!
Lady Knight 1512: Yeah…I was considering the draw option but…I just kind of liked how the girls proved the boys wrong. And how it was James's sickle that made the girls win :). Oh, and they're all in sixth year. I'm glad you like the Hazel/Remus pairing…I do too. Hmmm…to make Hazel act differently….maybe! I guess you'll just have to wait and see next chapter :).
Steelo: Yeah, I'm sad the story has to end soon too :(. Thanks for the birthday wishes! And of course I'll write an epilogue-ish thing. I'm glad you think Michelle is a nice match for Sirius; I do my best!
Daphne Picklesouse: Um, not true (you say I portray James and Sirius to be total asses). How are they asses? I mean, they're sixteen year old boys, they can't help acting the way they do. I'm glad you like it though, and I try to not forget Peter, but he has so little to do with the plot for this story…the sequel will (probably) have more to do with him though.
MaddyPaddy: Sorry...but I really thought it would fit better if the girls won.
SweetSouthernGirl: Wow! My birthday's the day after yours :). What a coincidence! I'm glad you liked to chapter, too!
Ashley
Chrissy888777999 (2): I'm glad you like the story. I try to add more serious elements into the story but still keep it humor-ish. This chapter was pretty humorless though. Sorry :(.
Sunsun18: Aww, thanks! I'm happy you like the story. And also, thanks for the birthday wishes.
Switchfootlover
HarryluvsMoaningMyrtle
MaDaNDCrZy: Yes, it's Michelle's birthday (soon).
Hen: Um. I was a little confused by your review…couldn't tell if you were being sarcastic or not. Sorry, I'm terrible at deciphering people's tones online.
JadeGreen14: I hope you're better from being sick (you should be, it's been practically two months since you've reviewed). I don't know why I don't have anyone cursing in the story. Hmmm. Maybe I should. I just don't curse much, so…yeah. Hmmm. In this chapter I think I had Lily saying 'hell' once. And previously I think James or Sirius or someone might have said "bloody" or something. Awww, and thank you SO much for the compliments…they mean a lot to me!
Simon-e Bolon-e (2): I've never read the series TWitches. Hmmmm. Bree (in my story) is a very minor character. I'm glad you liked it.
ChibiMangaAngel: I hope your time was well spent (you said you spent all morning reading my story…), and that you like the chapter too.
(Oh…and Michelle won the OC poll!)