Snowfire the Kitsune: gets bowled over by the mischief AH!
Niniane, Lady of the Lake: Roadkill joke is coming up, honest!
mioni-bear: Lol. Staring at Sirius? I sigh dreamily at him… grins
Haldirs-Wife: Thank you very much. That part came easily, surprisingly enough.
DistinctVagueness: Thank you very much. It was odd that that part took absolutely no thought… but this chapter attempted to kill me. No, really, I woke up with it standing over my bed holding a knife! It could have just been looking for my rat, but, you know…
Autumn Darkness: Yes, my dear, gladder is a word. Happy 16th!!
Cabbywolf: I'm glad you like it! It means more to me to have a fan that doesn't normally like this type of work, but likes mine. Thank you!
"blahblah": Lol. Not many people like Snape, I'm afraid.
"JenCarpeDiem": I agree, I agree, I agree. It takes more than just a girl, I'm afraid, to change one's personality so entirely as Sirius would have to if he wanted to quit being such a git.
"dogstarlurva": Lol. Thank you!
esteledhel: LOL! I agree times three! Snape is such a… well, there isn't a word, actually, to describe him. Let's make one up, shall we?
Naomi Maxwell: I'm so sorry that it took so long to update! Life nearly swallowed me whole.
Sweet A.K.: Peter Pan does rock!
Haldir's Elven Archer: Mutant dust bunnies! shrieks and wields her Chopsticks of Power
Estriel: Lol. I feel the same way when I find a good story. Sorry that I didn't update for so long…
Muse-Calliope: I would too! Except I don't plan on shagging anybody until I've married them… so I'll just have to jump on one of them and marry them, then shag them, eh?
Lily of the Shadow: Sorry that it took so long!
Nerwen Elendil: So many people seem to have felt the same way! It was so sad… sniffle
"Brat": Thank you so much! I hope that you're still reading!
Wow! There are so many of you… blinks rapidly I am SO sorry that the update took so freaking long. Many things happened to me (Crappezoids, jobs, Peter Pan, university, jobs, etc.), but that's really no excuse. I just found out that one of my little friends (a nine-year-old named Emma) is very, very sick and has gone on some serious medication to try and help her. Please pray for her!
Thank you to Hathor, The Beta Extraordinaire (who, I've been informed, has just finished her exams until January, yey!).
December 30, 1976 continued…Casey perched herself on the edge of a table near the entrance of the library. Her feet dangled far from the floor, the result of her small stature and tables far too big for anyone. The tables had been built long ago, which only made their size even more puzzling. Wasn't the human race supposed to be getting taller over time?
Most of the tables were set together in long columns throughout the library. They had been polished and finished until the dark wood was smooth and radiant. This was one of the reasons that Casey had fallen in love with the library the second she opened the doors. A cool draft smelling of old paper had rushed over her and filled her senses. There were books as far as the eye could see, and the air was cold and close. The familiar atmosphere was the second reason that the library had caught her fancy.
"This library has got to be new," Sirius said as he pushed open the doors and spotted Casey.
"Then how did you find it?" she asked.
Sirius grinned cheekily. "Instinct."
Casey rolled her eyes, not amused. "What happened with Snape?"
As quickly as a flame is doused, Sirius's face darkened and his eyes glinted. He did, however, attempt to cover it with his usual carefree manner. "Oh… hexed him a few times. Nothing much."
"That seems kind of simple," Casey pointed out, eyeing Sirius carefully.
Sirius shrugged. "Snivellus might have scared you, Casey, but he's not powerful or brave."
Casey could have pointed out that future events contradicted that sentiment, but reminded herself that that might be bad. She chewed her lip thoughtfully, and then repeated slowly, "So… you hexed him a few times." Sirius nodded, and Casey frowned. "Isn't that against the rules?"
Again, Sirius shrugged. "It's only Snape, and besides, if I was caught, I'd only get detention, and I've got a record to make." His eyes twinkled happily.
Casey shook her head in disbelief and stared at him. That smirk of his was infectious, and as much as she didn't find his hexing Snape particularly funny, Sirius still managed to make her want to smile about it.
Sirius tilted him chin up, his hair slipping back from his face, and smiled smugly. "Like what you see?"
"No," Casey replied slowly, determined to take his confidence down a notch. "It's just… you're like… roadkill."
Sirius blinked in surprise and looked back at her. "How so?" he asked curiously.
"Like a dead animal in the road… I want to look away, but I just can't."
Unfortunately, Sirius only looked puzzled for a moment before deciding to take this as a compliment and grinning cockily at her. Casey rolled her eyes and pushed herself off the table. She strolled over to a bookcase, pulled out the list of books that Lily had made for her, and started scanning for any book that looked familiar. Sirius followed her and positioned himself much too close on her left. It made her skin crawl, in fact. It probably wasn't anything personal – she'd had the same problem with Jaime occasionally – but at the moment, it seemed very personal. She squirmed away. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sirius grin mischievously, and she inwardly groaned as he copied her movement. Pretending to see an interesting book, she moved a step to the right. Again, Sirius followed her. He tilted his head so that his face was close to her hair…
… and sniffed. Casey spun towards him so fast that he had to jump away to keep their heads from colliding. "What the heck are you doing?" Casey shrieked, surveying him in horror.
Sirius gazed at her amusedly, that ever-present smirk playing on his lips. "Do all men make you this nervous?"
Casey immediately gave him a cold look. "And who says you're a man?" she snapped. With that, she stomped past him, making sure to bump her shoulder into his, and threw herself out the library doors.
She hadn't gotten very far before Sirius was by her side again. He slung an arm over her shoulders and leaned on her companionably. "So," he said cheerfully, "did it hurt?"
Casey gave him an odd look. "Did what hurt?"
Sirius smiled at her sweetly. "When you fell from heaven," he said matter-of-factly.
Surprised at his lameness, Casey blinked and stopped in her tracks. "That has got to be the oldest line in the book!" she exclaimed.
"No, it isn't," Sirius immediately retorted. "I just made it up!"
"You did not."
"Did so!"
"Not."
"So!"
"Not!"
"So!"
"Sirius, you did not times infinity, so there!"
Sirius sputtered, and then grew indignant. "Did so times infinity plus one. There. I win!"
"There's nothing bigger than infinity, Sirius," Casey said, irritated.
"But if there ever was, then I did so one more!"
Casey rolled her eyes. Two can easily play at this game. You don't even have to be clever. "Well, then, you did not times infinity to the infinity power plus infinity to the infinity power."
Sirius stared at her, blinked, and said, "What?"
Casey huffed and resumed her aggressive walk back to the common room.
Sirius had soon caught up to her again, and strolled along next to her with his hands clasped behind his back. For a moment, there was silence, but only a moment. Soon enough, Sirius spoke up. "Know what I think is wonky?" he asked.
Wonky? "No…," Casey said uncertainly.
"Fingernails," Sirius said, bringing his hands up to his face and examining the nails. "They have no purpose. They were just put there!"
Casey raised an eyebrow, making sure that Sirius could clearly see in her expression that she thought he was certifiably insane. "You scratch things that itch with fingernails."
"But couldn't we just twist and scratch with our teeth?"
How in the world does he live to see thirty-five, let alone seventeen? As his last comment was too stupid to even consider answering, Casey ignored him and resumed her walk to the common room.
"Know what?" Sirius said eagerly, trotting to catch up with her.
Please go for intelligent this time, Chuckles. "What?"
"I can say that word from that Muggle film five times fast."
What, you mean that movie? "Good for you…"
"Watch! Supercalafragilistic supercalafragilistic super—"
Dear Lord, why did you send me to hell? Oh well…. "You forgot expialladocious."
"No, I know, but I'm doing supercalafra—"
"—gilistic, I know. But it's an entire phrase. You can't say them separately, or they don't make sense."
Sirius frowned thoughtfully, and tugged on her arm to make her stop. "Why aren't you like other girls?" he asked.
Is he insulting me? "What?"
"Why are you acting like Evans?"
"Like Lily?" Casey asked, staring at him. What was he getting at?
Sirius sighed in frustration. "You disagree with everything I say. I want to know why."
Gee… let me take a wild guess. "Maybe it's because I don't agree with everything you say."
Sirius laughed, and clapped her roughly on the back. "Well, finally! I thought you'd never make a joke. Smashing to see that sense of humor, really."
Casey blinked. Oh, yes, those fan fiction writers had gotten it right without even knowing. Sirius Black was handsome, charming, effortlessly talented, and freaking stupid. "Why was Snape asking about Remus?" she asked sharply.
Nothing could have gotten his attention faster. Casey had never understood how people's eyes gave away their emotions. She supposed that, when not really noticing the entire facial expression, but taking it in all the same, you could say that the eyes expressed emotion. But Sirius… his eyes literally became shadowy. Casey's confidence dwindled into nothing, and she leaned back away from him instinctively.
"Snivellus is far too nosy for his own good. Whatever he asked you about was nothing more than unfounded fabrications to try and weasel something out of you," Sirius explained coolly. Casey wondered how often the Marauders had been almost caught at their game. Sirius's reaction suggested that it hadn't been often; he was much too easily defensive. Then again, maybe he was just still on Snape Mode.
To test Sirius's secret-keeping ability (which she was sure to be great), she pointed out, "But even fabrications begin with some truth. Besides, why would he single Remus out? From what I understand, it is you and James that cause the blatant trouble around the castle." He would assume that Lily had told her this. He needn't be told that she read about him. His head was big enough!
Sirius watched her with a calculating look. "Remus," he said slowly, "is really the mastermind of the pranks. He's the one who finds all the spells we use. Snape was just trying to get him out of the picture, I expect."
"Oh." Casey nodded thoughtfully and began walking again. For a few long moments, there was silence, in which Casey noticed that Sirius had relaxed. Yet she couldn't let him away yet. Oh no, like any girl being doted on by a boy, she wanted to be trusted absolutely. That meant that he'd better tell her his secrets, and he'd better tell her soon. And like any girl, she was naturally gifted in the art of manipulation, however subtly. "Why did Snape ask me about the full moon?" she questioned innocently.
Apparently he had still been on Snape Mode when she'd irked him before. This time, he was completely calm and nonchalant. "He's Severus bloody Snape, Casey. Who knows why he does anything?"
Casey chewed on a corner of her bottom lip. "Yeah, I suppose… but it just seemed weird that he asked me about the full moon, what with this morning and all."
That must have hit him like a ton of bricks. "This morning?" he asked, only the slightest bit of panic tainting his innocent question.
"Well, yes," Casey continued unconcernedly. "You all cornered me about the moon on the window, but who ever said it was a moon? It was just a circle; it could have been anything that resembles a circle, as I quite suck at drawing."
"We didn't corner you," Sirius said defensively. "We just wanted to know why you were drawing on the window, especially as you were drawing about Remus, of all people."
Hey, buddy, slow down or your head'll explode from Too Much Ego. "Well, if you had looked more closely, you would have seen that I wasn't only drawing about Remus. He just happened to be the last thing I put on the window before Lily came down. Now what is up with the moon? I get that it's a secret already; it doesn't take a genius to figure that out. But why is Snape trying to figure that particular secret out? Did you let it slip? What?"
By this time, they had reached the common room. Casey announced the password to the Fat Lady and climbed inside. Sirius followed her, frowning and saying, "Well it's not as if we're not careful. The only place Snape could have possibly ever heard about the moon would be if he's been following us, or if he intercepted one of our letters."
Well, that seemed incredibly stupid to Casey. How had this Sirius ever grown up? The adult Sirius knew not to write anything important in a letter. How did these kids ever make it out of school?
Casey rounded on Sirius. "A very wise man who is no longer living once explained that you can't say everything you want to in a letter," she snapped angrily, easily recalling one of the grown-up Sirius's letters to Harry in Goblet of Fire, warning the boy to be careful.
"If he's so smart," Sirius said smugly, "then why's he dead?"
Casey gave a sort of agitated squeak, spun on her heal, and marched out of the portrait hole.
Sirius watched her go curiously. "She didn't take that very well," he said.
"And no one can understand why," Remus, who was lounging on a couch reading a book, commented dryly.
Sorry that it's so short and that it took so long in coming out!
By the way, for those of you who didn't like the Prisoner of Azkaban movie, I have a quote for you: "No one who read the book will be disappointed, and I'm completely happy with it." – J.K. Rowling, about the latest Harry Potter film, Prisoner of Azkaban.
So there. nods My thinking is, that if the author of the entire series loved the movie and wasn't disappointed with anything, then we have no reason to think otherwise.
Review if you like (Lord knows I love getting them)!