Chapter Twenty-Three: The Coming Attractions

Once Sirius was officially cleared, the Marauders plus four returned to Hogwarts. They were the same as they had been a week before, but older, more mature. Even Sirius had a habit of looking dreamily at Lummy before reverting back to his cocky self. It was lunch again, and Sirius was looking at Snape stride across the Great Hall. The nasty git had turned on the billowing charm again. Sirius snorted, and continued scarfing down his roast leg of lamb.

Remus had finally come to terms with the fact that Sirius refused to star in "Peter's Struggle," as the movie was now titled. It was true that Remus really couldn't blame him. However, it did leave Remus in a bit of a pickle, considering he had promised the studio executives that the film would be ready for release by November. Ah, it was back to the old standby, Magical Photoshop.

In the middle of lunch, Sirius noticed that James and Lily were oddly silent about something. It was then that he saw the glittering ring on Lily's finger, a sparkling diamond on her smooth white skin. He leaned over, and whispered,

"But James, I thought you were going to marry me. What's a friendship without love, Jimsie?"

"Sirius, I'm going to surprise her with something, be quiet."

"Oh, the whole marriage thing was just a precursor to something much bigger. You know, because everyone gets married spontaneously when they're seventeen. It's just too commonplace. No, you'd better go do something more unique, like buy her flowers…"

"Shut up."

"Oh James, I meant that you were supremely dashing…now will you marry me instead of that wretched red-haired minx who stole you from me? I thought you loved boys, Jimsie."

"Shut…UP…Sirius."

The Great Hall became silent very suddenly, and a magical spotlight shone on James. Sirius smirked; the spotlight thing was really very overdone. But instead of James bursting into song, or something of the like, he spoke in a deep voice that was not his own,

"I have the great pleasure to introduce Mr. Remus Lupin, director extraordinaire, with his new piece, Peter's Struggle."

The screen was very impressive, as it hung from the top of the Great Hall in the place of the Hogwarts crest banner. The opening notes of the theme song began to play, a Muggle song that happened to be one of Sirius' favorites. If this was another ploy for him to star in this wretched film – it was not going to work.

"I noticed tonight that the world has been turning
While I've been stuck here dithering around
Though I know I said I'd wait around till you need me
But I have to go, I hate to let you down
But I can't stop now
I've got troubles of my own
Cause I'm short on time
I'm lonely
And I'm too tired to talk…" (1)

The screen panned onto a slum that Sirius recognized as the wizard town, Spinner's End. It was a most melancholy locale, but the man who stood in the center of the screen was an even more depressing vision. Sirius suspected that this was supposed to be him. With the use of Magical Photoshop, Remus had combined the faces of Peter, the real Rufus Scrimgeour, and just a hint of Sirius himself, because the ugly man had rather nice hair. A voice that Sirius recognized as James' began to speak overhead,

"It was the cold winter of sixty-four, when Peter Markov first became homeless. He did not mean for it to happen…he just stumbled upon it the way some stumble upon pennies or rocks. It is said that it was not his fault…."

Lummy listened intently to the film, James' voice was oddly compelling. Remus was not wrong when he said that the story was very interesting. What puzzled her the most was that it was definitely Sirius saying those lines – but hadn't he refused to do the movie? She gave a little half-smirk that was very much like Gerald's, because what happened next was going to surprise everyone very much.

A girl had walked onto the screen; she looked like Lummy, but with some deliberate mistakes. Her blonde hair was barely shoulder length, her eyes a mysterious purple instead of their dazzling green. She was out of place in the scene, her loveliness marring the disgusting backdrop. She looked at Peter Markov, trying to sell lemonade on the street corner, and whispered –

"I think I know you."

All in all, the movie was making very little sense, thought Lily. Then again, that was probably because it was artsy. Lily never understood artsy films. She, almost to her chagrin, preferred action flicks, because there was no misunderstanding – a gunshot and they were done with it. Luckily, the movie had just ended. The girl who looked like Lummy had died in a tragic accident, and the main character was once again where he had started. James' voice came overhead once more,

"It was the cold winter of seventy-one, when Peter Markov once again became homeless. He did not mean for this to happen…one could say he fell into it the way some fall in love. It is known that it was not his fault…."

The closing credits began to roll, and Sirius knew what to expect when they did.

"Rufus Scrimgeour as Peter Markov." From somewhere at the Hufflepuff table, a nasal voice shrieked – "I'm not in this film" However, the characteristic reaction came when the credit came up a few seconds later –

"Narcissa Avery as Amelia Torres." A bone splitting shriek was issued from the Slytherin table from one Narcissa Black. She strode over; her eyes glowing like hot coals, her startlingly pale blonde hair sweeping behind her excruciatingly pale face,

"I am going to kill you, Sirius Black."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That was priceless," remarked James, lounging into a chair in the Gryffindor common room.

"What I don't understand is why she wanted to kill me. It's not as though I was the cause of it."

"True…."

"It's like that time that Ashley Turpin actually came at me with a steak knife – and without any provocation."

"Didn't you hex her books?"

"Not really, the ink just kept running and running…."

"That was you, Sirius?" asked Lily, annoyed.

"Why?"

"All her skirts were ruined, the ink from our Ancient Runes book dripped all over the classroom."

"So Sirius that was your fault."

"Well, what about the time that Isis Flaherty tried to drown me? That, my friends, was unprovoked."

"Didn't Lummy try to drown you?" smirked Remus.

"She was trying to wake me up!"

"Was I?" retorted Lummy. But she proved her own question wrong when she gave Sirius a quick peck on the cheek, allowing him a blush.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When shall we meet the infamous Ashley Turpin? In her free time, Miss Turpin enjoys warm baths, hot chocolate, and writing reviews…