Okay, can someone tell me what they think of the story so far in comparison with any of my other stories? Anyway, on with the story!
Ch.16, Pillow Fight
Soon, it was the day of the pillow fight. The houses (Griffindor and Slytherin) had un-officially challenged each other and it was obvious. There were more and more fights breaking out between the two houses. Sirius was in the hospital wing for 3 hours one day. There was a Hogsmead day before the PF, and the girls planned on using the first part of the trip to get new pajamas. They were shopping and then they over heard part of a conversation between some women that looked like Ministry officials.
"It's terrible I heard. You-Know-Who seems to be focusing on Muggle families with magic children. 5 dead already." one women said.
"I feel so bad for those poor kids." the other said.
"And he's not stopping there. People are afraid, especially the children." the first one said mournfully. The girls didn't hear any more conversation because the two people walked off.
Melissa looked at her friends. Both had horrified expressions on their faces. Melissa herself was safe, she was pureblood. But Lily and Len were both muggle-born. Lily bit her lip, and went to the counter to pay for the new pjs she had found.
The girls left the shop, and went to The Three Broomsticks to meet the boys. They got there, and went off separately, going back at about 5:00 p.m. to get ready for the inter-school pillow fight.
In the Griffindor common room, the boys were waiting on the couches by the fire, until the girls came down. Their jaws dropped as they saw their girlfriends.
Lily was dressed in baggy, sky blue pants, and they had little clouds over them. She wore a halter-style tank-top, and it matched her pants. She had her hair done up in that sort of messy-bun style.
Len came down in a bright yellow t-shirt that showed most of her mid-section, but not her chest. She wore baggy pants that matched her top. She had done her hair in the normal braid, but then she had wrapped the braid into a bun.
Melissa came down in lavender pants, that were also baggy. She was wearing a matching, form fitting spaghetti-strap top, and it showed a bit of her stomach. She was also wearing matching slippers. The other two had bare feet.
They started laughing, and came down the stairs and closed each of their mouths. Then the boys snapped back to reality.
"You look nice Lily." James complimented.
"You look very cute Len." Remus said to her.
"Beautiful Melissa." Sirius said, giving her a kiss.
The girls smiled and kissed their boyfriends back. They made their way down to the great hall. In the hall, the tables had been moved to the sides, and there were mats layed down on the floor in case someone fell. The chairs had been removed. Dumbledore stood at the front, dressed in firetruck pjs with a matching sleeping cap. Everyone smiled as they looked at him. Once a sufficient number of Griffindors, Hufflepuffs, Ravenclaws, and Slytherins had gathered, he cleared his throat to speak. Silence fell immediately.
"Now that we're all here, I believe it is fair that we lay down the rules, for those of you that er... forgot to read them thoroughly. No magic is to be used on another person, or used to jynx your pillows. If anyone is injured, the person who did the damage will be disqualified, and receive a detention. One pillow per person. You are only to hit someone with a pillow, nothing else. I believe that covers it. You may begin."
And with a wave of his wand, about a hundred pillows piled up in front of the front. People raced to grab one. They were a cilindrical shape, and dark blue. (Like those pillows on the sides of sofas) They were firm, but not hard. There was another choice of pink pillows, that were about the length of an average person's leg, and about as wide as a head. The best part was that since the birds and the marauders were very near the front, they got their choice of pillow. Lily and Len each chose the pink ones, while the others all chose the blue ones. They watched as Lily used wand ropes to bind her pillow to her arm, and did the same for Len. Now, it looked like they each had a very long and pink arm. The boys had trouble not laughing, but Lily and Len just justified that they would be better protected.
After it seemed that everybody had a pillow, the real fighting began. Lily was fending of a few Slytherins while James snuck up behind them and whacked them on the head.
Len was being hit by a small gang of Slytherins, and she was mainly using her pillow for defense. Then, her night in shinning armor came, and hit them all on the head. With a pillow. Len laughed herself silly, and gave Remus a peck on his cheek for "saving" her.
Melissa and Sirius were currently fighting off Sirius's family.
"What's the matter traitor? Need a girl to help you win a pillow fight?" Rodulphus sneered.
Melissa didn't know what he meant, but she wasn't going to let anyone insult her like that. With a fleet of anger, she raced up, and hit him on the face. Hard.
"Why you b----!" he shouted as she jumped back from his swing. Then Sirius laughed at his cousin.
"That all you can do Bella? Melissa hits ten times better than you!" he said as he ducked another swing. He then got her in the ribs as swung her arms up to strike again.
Soon, the teachers were staring in surprise. They had meant this to be fun for all houses, as in, get them to work together. Now, it just seemed as if it was the entire school vs the Slytherins. Of course, Slytherin had started it by attacking the other houses, when they still had Griffindor to worry about. Then, Professor Dumbledore beckoned for the teachers to join in.
After the rest of the group was done with their batch of Slytherins, they proceeded to help Sirius and Melissa. Melissa sure was giving Rodulphus a beating. When Bellatrix laughed at Lily's and Len's pink pillows, they both started attacking her.
Sirius froze as a scream was heard. It wasn't one of those surprise screams, it was an im-hurt scream. He turned around and saw Melissa falling to the floor, and Rodulphus with his wand out, pillow discarded. The room froze as they heard it and Dumbledore shouted something.
Sirius raced to his girlfriends side. He checked her pulse, and breathed a sigh of relief as it was still going. She was just un-conscious. Blood poured from her arm, and the remains of the pillow were at the other end of the room.
"Melissa are you okay?" he asked her.
"Sirius, this pillow, and Melissa, were obviously victims of a reductor curse. A terrible one, but still a curse." Len said as he inspected the pillow remains.
Sirius levitated Melissa onto a stretcher conjured by Dumbledore. All five un-injured group members absolutely refused to leave their friends side until she was conscious.
Many hours later, when the pf had been cancelled, the group was waiting in the hospital wing, by Melissa's bedside. Sirius was sitting on a chair next to the bed, and Lily was on the other side. Len had conjured up a chair beside Lily. Remus and James had conjured up chairs at the foot of her bed. She was just regaining consciousness.
"Uhhh... What happened? And why does my arm hurt like h---?" she asked, groggily.
"Melissa! Are you okay?" Sirius said, as he bent over her.
"Yeah... what happened?" she asked as she sat up slowly.
"That ba----- brother of mine used a Reductor Curse on you after he found he was being beaten by a girl. By the way, you gave him a nice black eye." Sirius explained.
Melissa smiled. "I remember now. I saw him take out his wand, so I raised my pillow, and my arm, to try and knock it out of his hand."
"Well it was lucky you did, if he had hit you full on, you may not be able to move for a very long time. Now as for the rest of you, OUT!" Nurse Pomfrey shouted, as she came over with about five different potions.
The group had long since learned that arguing with her is pointless. So they left the wing, and listened to Sirius drone on about revenge plans.
"Padfoot, you do realize that that will never work?" James said for the thousandth time.
"ARGH! If only I could get a message to her!" he shouted.
Remus glanced at Len. "If only we had a really smart owl."
Len and Lily smiled. "I think I know one who is a very good spy, and could easily get a message to her." Lily said, with a spark in her eye.
"Yeah right. No owl can get through Pomfrey's security. She makes it so that letters can't get through and disrupt the patients' ." Sirius mocked.
"Sirius, meet us in the owlery in ten minutes with a note to Melissa. I know... a really smart owl." Len said with a smile. Unfortunately Sirius was being dense because of Melissa's injury. He shrugged and got out a quill and parchment. While Lily, James, Len and Remus went to the owlery.
"So Len, you do know a really smart owl?" Remus asked in a teasing voice.
Len smacked him on the arm playfully. "Owww..." he said.
"Len, can I come with you?" Lily asked.
"Sorry Lily, you know my rule. When I spy, or do anything like that I prefer to be alone. That way, no one else can make me worry. Not to mention, it will look kinda strange to see a phoenix flying around, opposed to an owl. Sorry Lil." Len replied as they entered the owlery.
When Sirius walked through the doors, he found a strange sight before him. His best friends were having a debate with an owl. Then he almost smacked himself. Len was going to personally deliver the letter, because she was an animagus owl.
"How come I didn't think of that?" he said in a whiny voice.
The owl gave an arrogant sounding hoot, and Lily laughed. It seemed she could understand Len, even while she was in human form. The owl had a very cute little sack, and that was where Sirius put the letter. With one last hoot, Len flew out the window.
Sirius's letter wasn't the only thing in the magically enlarged sack. There were also supplies donated by the others for any possible long term stay in the hospital wing:
A quill, ink and parchment
Chocolate frogs
Sugar quills
Sherbert balls
Bertie Botts Every Flavour Beans
' 101 Pranks we did to the Slytherins' by:The Maruaders
Homework supplies (Lily's idea)
Walky-talkies (Len's idea)
A bag with an invisibility charm on it so it can hide everything from the warden (Nurse Pomfrey)
As Len flew around to the area of the castle that contained the hospital wing, she quickly soared close to the windows so that if the warden looked out, she wouldn't see her. She sighed a breath of relief as she found that Melissa had been smart enough to leave the window beside her bed open. And the curtains around her bed were drawn, perfect!
As Len flew in, she found Melissa asleep. She frowned. If she startled Melissa to much in waking her up, she would probably be startled. And that could alert the warden. So Len landed on the bedside table, and gently nudged her head. Melissa started to wake up, and was about to fall back to sleep when she saw a familiar brown owl with gold talons on her table. She smiled.
"Hi Len. So the warden wouldn't let you guys in?" she asked. The owl nodded it's head, and dropped a little sack on Melissa's chest. She opened it and smiled. Then both heard footsteps and Melissa quickly put everything in the invisible sack. It disappeared, but Len was another matter. She quickly flew up to the top of the bar that held the curtains. She hid herself among them, just as the warden came in. Melissa did a very good impression of being asleep. The warden scowled, then, to Len's horror, she closed the window. She then stepped out, and closed the curtains once again. As the door to her office closed, Len flew down, and returned to human form. With Melissa on the lookout, or more like, hear out, Len opened the window. In about 45 seconds, she had rigged it to close after she left. She gave Melissa one last hug, and transformed. Then, flew out the window, hearing it close behind her.
When she got back to the owlery, she found that her friends had locked the door, and left the window open. She reported what happened, and that's when they heard the doorknob shake. Someone was trying to get in. They all glanced at each other with worried expressions. But, Lily and Len just jumped out the window. The boys didn't worry, because they knew that they had transformed. They tossed the invisibility cloak over them, and hid in a corner.
Snubbs burst in, obviously having used an unlocking charm on the door. His assistant, Argus Filch, a Slytherin, and a squib, followed. He cursed as he saw nothing in the room, except some very restless owls. They turned around and left the room.
"Come on. If I know Lily, which I do, then she would head back to the common room." James hissed. It had been okay for seventh years to come out at the time that they had, but it was now after hours. They creeped back to the common room, and saw Lily sitting on a couch by the fire.
"Where's Len?" Remus asked immediately.
"She hit her wi-arm on her way in. She's in bed now, she is really tired. I don't blame her." Lily replied with a yawn, as James sat down beside her. Remus shrugged and announced that he was going to bed. Sirius did the same. So, Lily and James were left alone.
"You miss her, don't you." he said, while she snuggled into his arms.
"Yeah. We have never transformed without her, and now it just seems strange." Lily said.
"Don't worry, she'll be out soon. Then, after Sirius gets revenge on Rodulphus, everything will be back to normal." he said, very happy as she snuggled deeper into his arms. They fell asleep like that, wrapped up in each other.