A Deal With the Devil

Ashley bounced into the Great Hall and sat down with her friends at the table. She helped herself to some food and pumpkin juice.

"This dance should be pretty fun, eh?" Alaina said, making pleasant conversation.

"I guess so," shrugged Alice.

"I'm just kind of nervous about finding a date," said Alaina. Around her friends, Alaina was very outgoing and cheerful, but to strangers, she was one of the shyest people you would ever meet. Fallon was probably the most outgoing person in their group of friends. Ashley knew that Alaina sometimes envied the way Fallon found it so easy to be herself around everyone. Just then, Alaina's younger brother and sister, Lisa and Brandon sat down at the table. Brandon was in Year 6, and Lisa was in Year 4.

"Ugh this dance is really starting to bug me," Lisa said grumpily as she sat down.

"Why?" Alaina asked curiously.

"Little-Miss-Popular over here got precisely 7 invites on her way down here. It got to the point where she asked me to hide her so nobody would see her," Brandon said, rolling his eyes.

"Anyone in paticular you want to go with, sis?" Alaina asked.

"I wouldn't mind going with Christian," Lisa mumbled.

Ashley almost choked on her food. "Christian as in my brother Christian?"

Lisa nodded, blushing a bit. There was a chorus of "awww" and everyone went back to their food. Not long after Fallon, Peter, and Remus joined them at the breakfast table.

"Heard about the dance, Fal?" Lily asked cheerfully.

"Yup. Got a date too," Fallon replied casually.

"Jeez, you don't waste time," Ashley joked.

"I asked Danny Bishop," Fallon shrugged.

"You asked him?" Alaina asked, surprised.

"Yep," Fallon replied uninterestedly.

Some of Ashley's siblings, Alyssa, Nicole, Dylan, and Brooke entered the Great Hall. Alyssa, Nicole, and Dylan were triplets who looked absolutely nothing alike. They were in Year 6, and Brooke was in Year 4.

"Have you guys found dates yet?" Lily asked.

"Ugh, don't remind me!" Alyssa said dramatically.

"What's up with her?" Ashley asked.

"She's angry because Brooke is going with Anthony Cowen, and nobody's even asked her yet," laughed Dylan. This was quite odd, because in all honestly, Alyssa was a bit on the slutty side. It was shocking she didn't already have a date.

"Shut up!" Alyssa snapped.

"What are we laughing about?" Christian asked as he and Lauren took a seat. They were Ashley's siblings also, Christian being Brooke's twin, and Lauren being in Year 2.

"Nothing," responded Lisa, blushing a bit.

"Hey, Lisa?" Christian said.

"Yeah, Chris?" said Lisa hopefully.

"Uh - Would you mind helping me with my potions essay tonight? Slughorn's cracking down a bit, if ya haven't noticed," Christian said smiling.

"Er - Sure thing," Lisa replied miserably.

"Where's Rafe this morning?" Fallon asked, reffering to her younger brother.

"Said he was skipping breakfast to head to the library. What a bookworm," Lauren replied, rolling her eyes. Lauren and Rafe were in the same year, and were good friends.

"Where's Sirius?" Alice asked, noticing the missing face from their group.

"He's - er - not feeling so great," James said, looking distinctly at Ashley. Ashley still felt uncomfortable around James when it came to her and other guys. Ashley looked at him questioningly. He nodded up, and she nodded back. Back in the first three years at Hogwarts, they had been inseperable. They were still close now, but not as clingy. They had almost developed a secret language that mainly consisted of nods and glares.

"Excuse me," Ashley said, looking at James. He knew exactly what she was doing. She ran upstairs and into Sirius' dormitory.

"Ashley! What the - "

"Shut up and listen. I don't want things to be awkward cause we kissed, okay?" Ashley said sternly. She decided that the direct approach would be best.

He ignored the tone of bossiness that Ashley sometimes had when trying to be direct. "Things were awkward with you and James, weren't they?"

"We got over that. Besides, we were 13!" Ashley countered.

"Well, you guys were pretty serious for thirteen. All you did was make out," Sirius retorted bitterly.

"James was my first serious boyfriend, and I was his first serious girlfriend. It was puppy love. What did you expect us to act like an old married couple? You and I are not James and I! We're not even a couple, Sirius!" Ashley protested angrily, and stormed out.

"Just great," Sirius muttered.

Potions time was near. Ashley, Fallon, Alaina, and Remus sat together in the back. "I can't wait for the dance! Danny and I are gonna have so much fun! So who are you asking, Remus?" Fallon asked.

"Ugh, I haven't a clue," Remus said miserably.

"Anyone ask you, Ash?" Fallon questioned.

"Just Evan in Hufflepuff. A bit boring and not so great looking," Ashley mumbled back, trying to take a few notes.

"And you, Lainy?" Fallon asked.

"Uh Tommy - That kid in Ravenclaw."

"And you said...?" Remus asked.

"I said I'd think about it," Alaina replied, shrugging. The bell rang, "Ancient Runes calls. Seeya there, Ashley, Remus. Bye!"

"Um - Remus?" Ashley said, startled.

"Yes?" Remus said, his normal, calm and gentle voice replaced by coldness.

"Are you planning on telling us why you're breaking your quills, or do we have to force it out of you?" Ashley asked.

"It's nothing - sorry - Er - I've got to head to Ancient Runes..." Remus said quickly and darted out of the room.

"Doesn't he usually walk to Ancient Runes with you, Alaina, and Lily?" Fallon asked curiously.

"Yeah. He does," Ashley said slowly, thinking of reasons why Remus could be acting so odd. Fallon shrugged. "I'm off to Divination," she said. Ashley said "Bye" and watched her bounce down the hallway, her black hair flowing behind her. Ashley turned around to head to Ancient Runes when she bumped right into Professor McGonagall.

"Oh - Sorry Professor!" Ashley said apolegetically.

"Quite all right, Miss Benedettis," Professor McGonagall said. "Listen, Benedettis, We have a transfer student from America here. I was wondering if you could show her to Ancient Runes. I fixed it so she has the same schedule as you, Lily Evans, and Alaina Donahue," said Professor McGonagall.

"Sure, Professor," Ashley said. Professor McGonagall gave her a grateful look and departed.

"Hi, I'm Ashley Benedettis," Ashley said, stretching out her hand.

"Erica Ferguson. Friends call me Fergie. It's a pleasure," Erica said politely. The two began to walk toward Ancient Runes.

"So, where in America did you live? I go there each summer for at least a week," Ashley asked.

"I've lived in Ohio, New York, California, and Idaho. My mom get's transfered a lot. She's a muggle and my dad's a wizard," Erica replied.

"Oh, I've been to New York and California. Lovely places. What school is in America?" Ashley asked.

"Oh, well, when I lived on the East Coast of America, I went to the Salem Institute, but when we moved West, I went to a school in Western Canada," Erica replied.

"Ah. What were the classes?" Ashley asked.

"Hmm...Potions, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astronomy, Care of Magical Creatures, Muggle Studies, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Divination, Charms, Transfiguration, and then the bonus subjects you could do for an hour on Saturday and Sunday. There was Dream Analization, also known as Drezation and Wandless Magic," Erica replied quickly. They entered Ancient Runes just as the late bell sounded and took a seat.

Ashley poked Alaina, who was on her right. She nodded toward Remus, who was cracking each of his knuckles furiously, and muttering under his breath. Alaina's eyebrows went up, and she mouthed "What's with him?" Ashley whispered back "Haven't a clue" and opened her textbook to page 26. After class, Erica was introduced to Alaina and Lily.

Next period was a free one. "Ashley? Can we talk outside?" came the voice of James Potter.

"Sure," she replied and followed him to the yard. They were standing right by Hagrid's hut.

"Y - You should give Sirius a chance. He really likes you, Flames," said James.

"No, he thinks he does," Ashley corrected. "Why do you seem so different?"

"It's just kinda of odd talking to you about this sort of stuff," James said quietly.

"I know what you mean, Prongs. But listen to me, James, no matter what, you'll always be my best friend. Always have been, always will be," Ashley told him.

"Yeah, you and Sirius and Moony are the best friends I've got," said James earnestly.

"Ow!" Ashley cried painfully.

"What's the matter?" James asked.

"My - My hand is bleeding," Ashley replied, looking at the blood gushing from her hand.

"Let me see that," James said. He grasped her hand and inspected it. He drew out his wand, muttered a spell, put it back, and examined his work. "I think I fixed -," James began to say, but was cut off.

"What are you two doing?" came the voice of Sirius.

"I was just-," but James was cut off yet again.

"Ugh, sorry to intrude," Sirius muttered.

"Intrude on what exactly?" Ashley asked perplexedly.

"I saw you holding hands!" Sirius shouted.

"You prick, he wasn't holding my hand!" Ashley yelled angrily.

"Oh really? Would you stop lying to me? I saw you!" Sirius shot back.

"My hand got cut and James was looking at it so he could fix it. That's all you prat!"

Ashley couldn't take much more of this. She shot him a look, looked sadly at James, and headed back to the castle. After a few minutes, James managed to convince Sirius that he and Ashley were just friends, and Sirius felt rather stupid.

"What's next?" Erica asked brightly.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts," Lily replied angrily.

"You don't like Defense Against the Dark Arts, Lily?" Erica asked.

"She doesn't like who's in Defense Against the Dark Arts," Alaina corrected, chuckling slightly.

"And who would that be?" Erica asked.

"The Marauders. More specifically, James Potter," Ashley responded.

"Who's James Potter?" Erica asked.

"Who's James Potter, eh? James Potter is the most conceited, evil, twisted jerk - "

"Good job, Erica. You've got her started on her list of '100 Things I Hate About James Potter'," Ashley said, rolling her eyes. Alaina let out a laugh.

"You've said yourself how much better he is this term, Lily!" Alaina pointed out.

"Mmhmm," Lily muttered.

"Give him a chance, Lily! I swear to you, he's a good guy," Ashley said.

"If he was such a good guy, then why did you dump him?" Lily asked.

"He turned sour for a while, but he's changed. I promise you, he has!" Ashley replied.

"Fine - Next time he asks me - I'll say yes," Lily said sadly, as if she had just made a deal with the devil.

"Yay! You won't regret it. James is much different when you're alone with him," Ashley assured her.