Disclaimer - Harry Potter is not owned by me. It is the wonderful works of J.K Rowling. Information found from hp-lexicon.
A/N:Thank you to Out Of Luck for reviewing this chapter! And now I bring you chapter three.
Chapter Three
Lily looked around the Great Hall, looking for someone with blonde hair. It had never occurred to her how many blondes there were in Hogwarts. David, after one day, still hadn't come to Lily or James, but it was a matter of time before he would. How long could you go without using your wand or reading fliers advertising Lily and James' new job? Yes, fliers had been put all over the school, advertising Lily and James' new job. Dumbledores doing, she supposed.
"I have no idea what Wolf bane and Wormwood together make," explained Rose to her agitated, first-year sister name Ethel, who was a spitting image of Rose.
"You studied it in first year, too, you liar!" hissed Ethel. "Slugger told us. Its crucial."
"Now now, Ethel. Respect for our teachers, please. Haven't you got better things to do? Go … ask your little friends. Study it. Ask the teacher. Rosey is a bit busy at the moment. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, after all," said Rose, with the air of someone explaining something extremely easy and time wasting.
"I'm eleven!" she spat.
"I'm seventeen... " giggled Rose, but Ethel went on as though she hadn't heard her.
"Just because your turning seventeen soon, doesn't make you seventeen. And anyway, I bet you wouldn't have appreciated this kind of treatment when you were my age," huffed Ethel.
"What a lovely, mature young child," Sirius smiled at Ethel. "What a shame Rose, her sister, couldn't take after her." sneered Sirius from across the table.
"And - are you mature?" asked Rose.
"I'll have you know -"
"Shut your over-sized, food filled mouth, Black! Just shut-up." snapped Rose.
"Don't tell me to shut up!" retorted Sirius.
Lily rolled her eyes and looked at Ethel who was watching Rose with an interested facial expression, while munching on some bacon found on Rose's plate. When she finally made eye contact with Lily, her lips stretched into a smile and she waved at Lily, who smiled back. After a moments pause, Ethel seemed to grow tired of her sisters constant arguing with Sirius.
"I don't have time for this. I have better things to do… like research for my assignment, since someone here was too heartless to share information with her own sister, and make it easier!" she screeched, though the only people who heard Ethel were Lily and Remus. James's head was on the table, and loud snores could be heard issuing from his open mouth.
"He hasn't had much sleep lately," explained Remus quietly, pushing James' face from the table and into the air again.
"I see. Why n-?" but she was interrupted.
"Excuse me?" came the deadly whisper of Rose who was staring at Sirius with venom spitting through her watery eyes.
"Um …" said a shocked Sirius, obviously not expecting to affect Rose.
Rose grabbed her bag from the table and stormed off. You could practically feel the anger radiating off her.
"Sirius! What did you do?" asked Lily urgently.
"I - I don't know, seriously," he said not making eye contact with anyone.
Lily got up and tried to follow Rose, but the feeling of two hands on her arms stopped her. One was the hand of James Potter and the other, Sirius Black.
"Don't go, Lily…" whimpered James. She tore her arm away from his hand, and turned her gaze to Sirius.
"I reckon I know where she went. I started this, I may as well finish it."
Lily nodded her head and her vibrant, red hair fell out of the bun it had previously been tied in, blocking the view of her surroundings, just as David Snoot walked by. He glanced at James, and then lingered on Lily. He quickly made his way out of the Great Hall.
Lily doubted whether Sirius knew where Rose had run off to, when she had no clue and she had known Rose for years. She had come across Rose on places she'd stumbled into by mistake. She swept her hair and pulled it into a neat pony tail, and continued eating her breakfast.
"Remus…" asked James. He looked an absolute mess. His hair was as untidy as ever, and dark rings had settled beneath his eyes. His shirt was wrinkled and un-tucked, with ink smeared on his sleeve.
"You look utterly atrocious. What happened to you?"
"Well," James yawned, "Me and Lily were on patrol and found the girls bathroom… messed up. Ink… everywhere." James groaned at the memory.Remus waved his wand at James' sleeve and the ink wasn't as noticeable, but it wasn't completely gone.
"How much sleep did you get?"
"Uh… about two or three hours."
"And Lily just left you there?"
"Something weird happened to her… she looked like she was going to be sick, or something," James started unsurely, but was interrupted at that moment by none other than-
"Hello James." said a tall boy with short, dark hair and dark blue eyes. His face was a square shape with very strong features. He was a lot taller than both James and Remus, and to some girls would appear better looking.
"I would like to talk with James in private, please." He stated, staring at Remus.
Remus waved his hand at James and disappeared around the corner, heading to the first lesson of the day… Potions.
"I'm David, by the way, from Hufflepuff. Uh, David S. Don't like my last name you see…" he said distractedly, winking to an attractive brunette girl nearby.
James blinked at the boy, and smirked. "And?" he said.
"Oh yes," David said, returning his attention to James. "I am missing my bag, and my wand. I've seen your adds around…" he said with a smirk. James was too tired and irritated and didn't care that it was rude to roll his eyes.
"I'll get back to you later, class is about to start. Oh, but here's your wand." he said reaching into his bag and pulling out the rather short wand and handing it to David. "You'll be needing that. You might want to talk to Lily about this, I'm a bit busy at the moment." James lied, he didn't like the bloke at all.
"Right… Lily. She's that red haired girl, isn't she? Friends with Rose?"
James nodded, but just before James turned to leave, he spotted a silver ring on David's finger. It had a Snake on it. He found it odd that David should be sporting the animal from Slytherins house, and not Hufflepuffs.
"See you later, mate…" David said.
"I would like to welcome you all to your second class of -" Professor McGonagall began, but went unheard of by the Marauders.
"Sirius, what exactly did you say to Rose today?" asked a very concerned Remus.
Sirius paled at the memory.
"And you didn't find her?" asked Remus again after a moments pause.
Sirius paled even more, and shook his head slightly.
"Lily almost-"
"Just leave him. They'll work it out…" James said irritably, blowing out a breath he had been holding. Remus returned his gaze to the professor, just as there was a knock at the door.
"Ever so sorry I'm late, professor McGonagall. I realised I had left some of my books back up in my dormitory." Rose said staring straight at the Professor. Rose was well liked by some of the teachers, and had managed to build a friendship with most of them. Professor McGonagall looked a bit concerned but excused her, none the less.
Rose made her way up to the back of the classroom, and sat down. Sirius and the other Marauders watched her as she unloaded her books onto her desk. When she had finished, her eyes dashed around the classroom and landed on Peter, who cringed slightly and instead of looking at Rose, looked at Lily. She then moved her eyes to Remus, who turned around almost as soon as her eyes hit his. Her eyes then moved to James, who copied Remus, and finally they landed on Sirius. It was like a staring competition. The both stared stubbornly at each other, before Rose turned her head in the direction of the professor. But Sirius was still staring at her. She shifted uneasily as she felt his eyes boring into her. Its funny how words could affect someone so easily…
Meanwhile, James was feeling very pleased with himself. He and Peter had swapped spots, so he was no sitting next to Lily.
How are you, Lily? He scrawled as neatly as possible onto a piece of parchment. He slid it across the desk, to Lily, who stared at it disbelievingly.She held it in her hands and with her wands, made it vanish, all the while looking at James. She then turned her attention to McGonagall.
James was fed up with her. He needed to get a reaction out of her. A huge smile flickered across his lips as he came across a perfect idea. With his huge smile still in place, he turned his face towards Peter as his hand disappeared under the desk. He found his knee, which he knocked into Lily's, just to make sure he knew where her knee was. He then moved his hand off his knee and on to hers. Almost immediately, she jumped up and screamed "JAMES BLOODY POTTER! WHAT IN THE NAME OF MERLIN ARE YOU DOING! KEEP YOUR-" The sound of Professor McGonagalls voice clearing brought Lily back to Hogwarts. Her brilliant eyes widened and she sat down.
"Something you'd like to share with us Miss Evans?" asked Professor McGonagall.
Lily shook her head, and as soon as McGonagall had turned her head she whispered, "Engorgio," with her wand pointing straight at James. Immediately, his whole body started to swell, until it reached a huge size. Lily couldn't contain herself any longer. She burst into a fit of laughter, and the class joined in.
"MISS EVANS! DETENTION THIS SATURDAY. 3PM SHARP!" she shouted, outraged. "Remus, would you mind assisting James to the hospital wing?" A simple 'Reducio' spell would have been simple enough, thought Lily, but the less she got to see of James, the better.
At the end of the lesson, McGonagall had rewarded them with a seven inch essay, and a project to be completed by the following week. Each student jotted it down slowly, as if wishing the words would change themselves into 'No homework for the whole year from McGonagall!', but alas, no such thing occurred.
As soon as the bell rang for lunch, Rose ran for the door, where Lily was waiting for her, closely followed by Sirius.
"Rose! Listen, I'm so sorry - " began Sirius hurriedly, fidgeting with his hands.
"Sirius - "
"I don't want this to influence our friendship in any-"
Rose blushed slightly, ignoring the stares they were getting, and interrupted again, "Sirius, listen!"
"Its just I was a bit - "
"Sirius you PRAT! Listen to me!" she hissed, suddenly. Almost everyone who was walking past had stopped to stare.
"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Cried Rose, at their surrounding audience. She grabbed Sirius's arm and pulled him down the corridor and walked until she found a secluded hallway.
"Don't worry about before, okay? I guess I just overreacted." Rose huffed, not quite looking Sirius in the eye.
"No. This isn't your fault, its mine. I shouldn't have said that - "
"Will you just bloody shut up!" cried Rose. "Arguments happen! Lets just forget about this, I think its better if we just leave it behind." she ended quietly, finally raising her eyes to Sirius's.
"So your forgiving me?" he asked, walking closer to her, with a playful smirk on his face. She backed up until she felt the cold, stone wall connect with her back. She was trapped.
"Yes I suppose so." she breathed. Sirius stopped walking towards her. There was hardly an inch left to walk before he walked into Rose, anyhow.
"Good…" he said, lowering his head closer to Rose's, who was staring, frightened, at Sirius. Their faces were about an inch apart, before Sirius dove his head into the side of Roses neck, who let out a shriek of laughter. His hands roamed over to her stomach as he tickled her. He grabbed the sides of her stomach and squeezed them, by this point tears of laughter were streaming down Rose's cheeks as she tried to struggle out of Sirius's tight grip. No such luck. He started to laugh as well, removing his head from her neck. He could hear her gasping for breath. He finally stopped, his hands resting on her waist.
Rose just stared at him, unable to understand why her heart felt so light suddenly. She could feel bubbles of laughter tickling her stomach. She realised how very hot it felt where his hands were at the moment. Sirius seemed to gain control of his senses and realised the exact location of his hands, and removed them. Rose could barely hold in a giggle. What else could she do?
"Come on," said Sirius, laughter shaking his voice slightly.
"Lily, I'm going to the lake, ok? Its so hot!" It was late afternoon, and Rose had just emerged out of the girls bathrooms, dressed in a bright yellow bathing suit. Lily stared at Rose, dumbfounded. This was a public girls bathroom, and Rose was standing there in a brightly coloured bathing suit. She was more than likely to draw attention to herself in the corridors. It was very… tight on her, Lily had to admit.
"You. Are. A. Raving. Lunatic." muttered Lily, but laughed all the same. "Off you go then, if you must."
"Hah, you love it. Bye Lily!" she said excitedly as she threw a yellow towel around her neck and ran to hug Lily. "Come down later and visit me!"
"Just how long are you staying in there?" asked Lily curiously.
"As long as I like Miss Taut and Grumpy - I mean Terrific." commented Rose as she batted her eyelashes. She opened the doors of the bathroom, and the sunshine of the early afternoon hit her, illuminating her hair. She sighed and ran out of site. Many eyes and cat calls followed her along the way. Lily giggled along with the rest of the girls who had been watching.
Lily walked out later, after inspecting her image. She was quite tall, at 5"9", just two inches shorter than Rose. Her hair was quite long and straight, but she usually kept it up in a very neat ponytail. Of course, her hair was as red as anything, and her eyes were as green as emeralds, shaped like almonds. Her nose was quite slim and she was always wearing a smile, which suited her image very well.
"Lily!" she heard someone call out, just as she had walked out of the bathroom. She turned around and stumbled, as she saw David Snoot walking towards her. As she registered who this boy was, a huge bubble of laughter burst out of her mouth, at the memory of second year, and how whenever he walked past, his fellow classmates used to chant:
'Snooty Snooty, bum, bum, he is a big fat crumb!'
Well, things had certainly changed since then. Lily put on her most angelic smile, and coughed a very tiny, insignificant cough.
"Hello. May I help you with something?" she asked lightly. She had no idea how he knew who she was, she had always tried to steer clear from him. And then she thought of those fliers Dumbledore had put up…
"Uh, yes. I don't know if you know me. My name is David S." Lily's smile widened. "I'm acquainted with a friend of yours. Rose."
"Oh yes! Rose." Lily stared up at him for a moment. "Well?" she prodded.
He let out a sigh of irritation. "You mean James didn't tell you about this morning?"
"Tell me what? Oh, are you David Snoot?" She asked. He looked up at the ceiling and let out a sigh of irritation. Lily, satisfied, then said, "Oh yes, we found a series of your things all muddled up and in a state of depression, in Moaning Myrtles Bathroom! But don't worry. All of your text books I had James collect, and dry. He sent a letter to your parents, asking to buy you new quills, ink and such, all should be arriving by package this evening." Well, that's just what she hoped he had done. "I trust James gave you your wand back?"
"Yes, he did." He stared open mouthed at Lily. "He did all that?" asked David, in a tone that clearly suggested he thought Lily must be toying with him. Lily just smiled, unable to answer.
"Now, I have a few questions to ask you…" she stated, fumbling around her bag for a piece of parchment, a quill and some ink. "Follow me, please." she said with a smile, leading him down the corridor and into the first empty classroom she could find.
The room she selected was already well lit with rays of sunlight. Lily sat herself down behind a desk and looked expectantly at David. She rather liked bossing him around, playing secretary. He just shrugged and grabbed a chair, putting it next to Lily's, and sat down. Lily felt very uncomfortable sitting so close to him, so she picked up her chair and placed it opposite to where David was sitting. She was sure he thought she was mental.
"Anyway," breathed Lily nonchalantly, plopping her quill into her ink. "Like I said, we found your books and such that night in Myrtles bathroom. Can you explain to me what you were doing around the time your stuff went missing?" David sat for a moment in silence, while staring at Lily's hair.
"Well… I went to the Divination Classroom, and I dropped my bag at the bottom of the floor. Uh, and when I came out, it was gone…"
"Oh ok…" said Lily, jotting this all down. When she had finished, she looked back up and smiled. "Any idea who could have done this?"
"Um… well - "
"We're almost positive it's a girl." interrupted Lily.
David let out a laugh. It was one that was filled with life, and actually sounded like he meant it.
"Well in that case," he said, leaning closer to Lily, "It could either be Delilah Fair, Regan Fanny, Claire Brush, Jane Cream or Audrey McWilliams. The list just goes on…" he said smiling at Lily. "But they're the most recent girls I've had rows with."
Lily stared, and bent her head down and wrote the names. "O-O-One with, um, long hair. Very long. And blonde!" she added.
"Well…" something silver glinted on his hand as he waved his hands around. As his hand stilled, she saw that it was a silver Snake.
"Thank you, I have enough here to work it out… I'll get back to you." she said very quickly. She gathered her books up, and lumbered out of the classroom, leaving David very frightened and concerned.
She stumbled as she saw miniscule sparks starting to appear before her eyes, making her even more disorientated. She felt so tired. She stopped, and her eyes drooped as she blacked out and hit the floor.
A/N:Sorry I didn't continue longer. Its just been such a long time since I last updated I thought this would be better than just nothing for the next week or so. If it seemed a bit rushed, I'm sorry, but I have been very sick over the holidays, I have performed, I have also started at a new school and its all been a bit stressful. Sorry for the long wait. I would LOVE feedback. Tell me whats wrong with it, tell me what you like about it, tell me what you want more of.
Ron Lover 2005