Standing There By You
Ch. 20- Third Year
Disclaimer: Let it be known... I hereby declare that by legal binding matters, any recognizable material belongs to the infamous J.K.Rowling.
a.k.a- it's not mine.
A/N: Whoops, thanks to Lanette for reminding me they're in third year.. I forgot to put that as last chapter's title so this one will have to do.
The Marauders walked down the boys' staircase to find a large group of people gathered around the Gryffindor notice board.
"What's going on?" James asked, weaving his way through the crowd.
"I don't know," Sirius responded, edging around the corner. "Oh, seems to be some sort of notice."
"Very observant," Remus commented from his spot on the stair-case. He wasn't much for crowds.
"Thank you," Sirius replied.
"Can you read it?" said James.
"Yes, let's see... oh, sign ups for the Sirius Black fan club, contact Val for meeting dates and times-"
"Not that one you dolt!"
"Hey, don't get snippy just because you don't have a sign-"
"Just read the notice!"
"Okay," Sirius mumbled, looking up after signing the lengthy piece of parchment. "There's quidditch try-outs Friday night, Hogsmeade next weekend..."
"Really?" James said, brightening at his last remark. "Next weekend already?"
Sirius nodded, making his way back out of the crowd and joining his three friends.
"I can't wait, you know, I hear they've got a joke shop..."
The next week seemed to drag by especially slowly, as anything does when you're anxious for something to arrive. Finally they made it through the week, and waited impatiently for their last class, Transfiguration, to end.
"Mister Pettigrew," Professor McGonagall called sharply, awakening the dozing boy. "Please read from passage seventy on page 269."
Peter hastily flipped through the book to find the specified section, and began counting the passages as to read from the correct one.
"They're marked, Pete," Sirius whispered out of the corner of his mouth.
Peter looked up from his count- he had already made it to twelve- and gave Sirius a grateful smile. "Oh, thanks."
"Er," he began, his voice squeaky with nervousness. "A spell for retaining transfigurations is as follows: A simple Kenya charm, and a small dose of the Linean Potion. The Linean Potion is made up of three parts lancing powder-"
"And that would be," Professor McGonagall interrupted.
"Uh," Peter squinted at the book to see if it held the answers. Unfortunately it did not, so he had to flip to the back of the book and spent a considerable amount of time looking for lancing powder. Once he found it and read aloud the definition, he continued with the Linean Potion.
"Two parts quenya-"
"And that would be," Professor McGonagall repeated.
The class gave a collective sigh as Peter hastily flipped to the back of the book.
Finally he came upon the last part of the Potion. "And five parts any sniveling substance-"
"And that would be,"
Peter let out a small whimper as he checked the index once more. "Erm...sniveling. Nasal drippings, the act of breathing through one's nose, whining, talking in a tearful manner, must or mold-"
"Quite enough," said Professor McGonagall. "We could've just done with the first definition, thank you."
Peter stopped quickly and breathed a sigh of relief upon completing the task. Professor McGonagall assigned a two foot parchment on the topic, before dismissing the class.
The Marauders made to head out, but the professor called James to her desk before he could depart. Sirius, Remus and Peter waited for him outside of the door, as the boy wearily made his way up to the teacher.
It turned out to only inform him about the Quidditch try-outs and times- apparently she hadn't discovered the Auxxi spell they had placed under her desk- so he was done rather quickly. Just as he turned to leave, however, Severus appeared behind him.
Professor McGonagall looked up from her desk. "Yes, Mister Snape?"
"I was just wondering what the make-up assignment for Tuesday was," he said, staring determinedly at Professor McGonagall. James, though, glared at him openly.
"Oh," she said, standing up and reaching for a large bin of folders. "I'll get that to you straight-away. Please hold on a moment Potter, Richen also asked me to inform you of the supplies he'd be needing."
James nodded, as the teacher walked off in search of the missing assignment. Turning to Severus, he moved aside one of his books.
Severus flinched automatically when he felt a book move- the incident last year had made him quite protective.
"Another book on the Dark Arts, no doubt," James said with disgust.
"None of your information," Severus replied coldly.
"You know what you could do with one of those books? Shove it-"
"Just because you're on the Quidditch team doesn't make you all high and mighty," Severus interrupted quickly; his words were rushed as if he'd been storing them for some time.
"What?" James asked, not expecting that at all. Regaining his pose, he exclaimed, "I do not act high and mighty!"
"Right," Severus muttered, looking away from James.
"I can't help it if you're jealous," James fumed. "Get a life.. Snivellus."
Severus made a slight move of surprise at the name, but still stared down at McGonagall's desk. James turned to leave; he'd get the supplies some other time.
"Oh, what a wonderful day!" Sirius declared, parading into the common room. He looked tired and muddy, but grinning nonetheless.
Remus laughed. "Should I assume you made the team, then?"
"Go right ahead," said Sirius, sitting down next to Remus and Peter. "There was barely any competition at all. James told me Richen's already said I got the spot."
Peter smiled. "Good job!"
"Thanks Pete," Sirius leaned back and put a muddy foot up on the desk. Remus cringed at the disgusting sight.
"Is James still out on the Pitch?" Remus asked, tearing his eyes away from the horrid mess Sirius was creating.
"Yeah," said Sirius, "chaser try-outs followed beater."
"Oh," said Remus. "Did anyone look good?"
"Not sure," Sirius shrugged. "We left just as they were arriving."
Remus nodded, and went back to the book he had been studying. He read for a while, and after several minutes he looked back up at Sirius.
What he saw nearly frightened him to death.
"Are you reading?" he asked Sirius incredulously.
"Wha-huh?" Sirius looked up from the gigantic book he had been skimming. "Oh, yeah. What's the big deal about that?"
Remus narrowed his eyes. "You never read."
"I do to!" Sirius said indignantly. "Right Peter?"
Peter looked a bit shaken at being addressed; he was used to just watching the arguments. "Oh, er- no."
Sirius shot him a pointed look.
"Oh, er- yes."
Remus rolled his eyes. "Why in the world-"
"Do either of you know when the try-outs let out?"
Sirius and Remus looked up to see Julie hovering above them expectantly.
"Should be over any minute," said Sirius. "James said there weren't that many applicants."
"Oh," Julie nodded. She mumbled a "thanks," before turning to walk away.
"Why do you want to know?" Sirius asked curiously.
Julie stopped walking and turned around to face him. "Grace is trying out."
"She is?" said Remus.
"Is she really?" Sirius asked incredulously, standing up to walk by Julie. "Grace is trying out for the team?"
"Mmm-hmm," Julie nodded.
"Is she any good?" said Sirius.
Julie shrugged. "I think so. I've never actually seen her play."
"Oh," Sirius nodded. "I-"
Sirius cut off as someone slammed open the Portrait noisily.
Four heads turned to see Grace enter the common room. Grinning, she spread out her arms dramatically. "Oh what a wonderful day!"
A/N: Sorry about the short chapter, next one's Hogsmeade.
Just to letcha know, that's the Latin def. for Snivelling ; )
FairyPrincess13: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it, that part was fun to write : )
FreckledIrishMaiden- lol, yes I do like the name! We should celebrate end of exams- Sirius style. I'll bring the fluff if you bring the streamers!
EW4eva- Wow, super long review! Thanks mucho.. you re-read the entire thing? Nifty : ) Thanks for the review!
Luna Gypsy- Yay, I'll join you in your Happy Dance!! Thanks for the incredibly wonderful review : )
SuperHiperChit- Glad you liked it! I'm sure your fic does not suck, are you almost ready to post it? Thanks for the review!
Jess- Are they going to pull any pranks of their own? Not planned, but intrigueing idea! lol, thanks for the review!
Manny2003- Hope your exams went well, thanks for the review!!
MidnightPrincess- Yes, sadly, there are real quizzes like that out there- that's okay, gives me something to make fun of! Glad you liked it, thanks for the review!
Aerandir- Yeah, chaos! Thanks mucho for the review, you know I luv em!
dreamlessnights- Ah, I am happy you had many favorite parts : ) Thanks for reviewing!
Samwise Gamgee 1973- Yes, punctuation!! hehe, thanks for the review : )
Lanette- Yup, they're in third year, I'm glad you like the willow part. Thanks for reviewing!!
Hermione1989- Yeah, some people I'm sure have memorized the books, but I just put that in there for those who haven't. Thanks for the review!
Molly- Wow, long review! Sorry I haven't checked out your story yet, I promise I will as soon as I get a chance. I barely got this sucker out. Oh and, I don't know... is Sirius flirting with Grace? Tee hee.
Misty Cherry- No, I will not forgive you for reviewing late. Just kidding!! Thanks mucho for the long review, I'm glad you like it!
ImperishableStars- Tell me about it. The thing that irks me the most is that JKR was sitting right besides the director approving it all. Ugh. Well, thanks for the review, you should e-mail/IM me sometime so we could talk about the catastrophe...oh er, I mean movie.
hprincess- Wow! That was such a nice review! Thanks, that made my day : ) You reviewed too late to have the stuff you suggested in this chapter, but maybe in a few!