Standing There By You
Ch. 26- Essays of Exertion
Disclaimer: Let it be known... I hereby declare that by legal binding matters, any recongnizable material belongs to the infamous J.K.Rowling.
aka. it's not mine.
A/N: I'm baaaaaack! Didja miss me? I surely missed you ; ) Sorry it took me awhile to update, camping lag can do that you. Yup, I went camping (rained a lot, yeck), and guess what I did.
Dressed up as a bear.
Yes, a bear.
A bear by the name of Boo Boo.
Please don't ask.
In accordance to the Sirius Black Fan Club: I am, I must admit, disappointed. Only one person responded to the quest. I'm not sure if I'm going to continue... is anyone actually reading it?
Ah well, onto the thing you've all clicked here for, Chapter 26.
With James and Sirius's fight a distant memory by the next morning, all resumed normal and pranks commenced at Hogwarts once more. As if to make up for the lack of mischief, the boys pulled a sort of blitzkrieg technique, pounding out one prank after another.
Lily, Grace, and Julie however, were quite a different matter. For as of recently a third of the group had inhabited the library, only coming out when necessary, (aka, Grace and Julie dragging Lily to dinner).
Now, Lily Evans had always been always been very studious, yet recently she had reached a studying extreme. It wasn't so much the grade that concerned her, but moreover pride and dignity.
Let's go back to Monday's Transfiguration class, shall we?
"Mister Pettigrew, please inform the class of the Ambrose's main characteristics."
Peter looked up, hesitantly meeting Professor McGonagall's eyes. "Erm... it fends off attackers with the sucrose spray, and..." he trailed off as her reproving glare signified he had answered incorrectly.
"Yes Miss Evans?" Professor McGonagall said, nodding at the red head.
"Actually professor, the Ambrose's main characteristic would be its defense mechanism, but that would be labeled Tangent spray, not sucrose." Lily smiled after delivering her response, proud that she'd apparently been the only one to read ahead a chapter in her Transfiguration book.
"Well," James spoke up before Professor McGonagall had a chance to respond, "actually professor," he paused as Lily glared at his mocking words. He swiftly set aside the taunting tone and replaced it with a brisk professional one. "While the defense mechanism of an Ambrise is indeed a Tangent Spray, it is not the main characteristic of its brother entity, Ambrose. That would be known as Lineok, a process in which the creature is trapped between two adhesive substances."
"Very good, Mister Potter," Professor McGonagall praised, smiling approvingly. "Ten points to Gryffindor."
"Oh it was nothing," James replied. "The switching of the brother entities is, after all," he turned to grin at Lily, "a common mistake."
Lily scowled, reddening slightly as several students snickered at his mocking amendment. As soon as Professor McGonagall turned to write the latest assignment's requirements on the board, James leaned far over his desk and behind Lily.
"Nice try, Evans," he whispered, laughing when he noticed her start at his unexpected words.
"Stuff it, Potter," she hissed back.
"Oh, don't get all angry with me now that you've gone and realized your true ignorance," James replied, his calm voice agitating Lily more than his previous taunting one.
Taking a deep breath, Lily turned around to face him and opened her mouth to retort. "You think that just because-"
"Miss Evans." Lily turned around quickly at Professor McGonagall's firm beckon. The teacher scanned over the student slowly, frowning. "Class is clearly not yet dismissed. Next time you interrupt, I can assure you it will earn you a detention."
Lily opened and closed her mouth soundlessly. Not in three years had she ever even been scolded, but a detention threat? It was much too much to fathom. "Yes Professor," she managed to squeak. Finding it an adequate enough response, Professor McGonagall turned briskly back to the board, issuing the outline for the essay she had assigned.
As Lily bowed her head and whipped out a quill to take diligent notes, she could hear James and Sirius laughing heartily behind her.
A few moments later Professor McGonagall dismissed the class. "Three feet minimum," she called, as the class began to gather their books, "if you'd like a decent grade."
"Oh," Lily fumed, once she and her friends had exited the class-room. "He's so, so-"
"Handsome, witty, brilliant, charming, incredibly courageous, strong," James put in, as he and Sirius passed by the girls.
"You forgot modest," Grace said dryly.
"No, I was thinking more like a superficial idiot," Lily snapped. "Not to mention derisive and highly hubristic.
James rolled his eyes. "Right, is widdle Evans jealous of my incredible talents?" he cooed, as Sirius laughed beside him. The boy shrugged. "Just drop it. I'm better than you, and that's all there is to it."
Lily's mouth dropped open. "You are such-
"Yes, we know," Sirius said lazily. "Now, we don't mind if you continue your little tirade of insults, but most unfortunately, we will not be present. My stomach is rumbling and ready for some of the Great Hall's magnificent grub."
"Ah yes, sounds excellent. I hope they have chicken..." James and Sirius began to walk down the hallway towards their goal of a filling and scrumptious meal.
"Potter," Lily called after them. "You, you are just-"
"Yes, that's it Lilykins," Sirius encouraged, continuing their tread down the corridor. "Just like that. Keep ranting, and we'll keep walking."
"Argh!" Lily cried, turning back toward her friends in a fury. "Can you believe him? I mean, he just had to show me up, and there wasn't even a need-"
"Lily, c'mon," Julie coaxed, grabbing her elbow gently. "Let's just get you something to eat..."
"What!?" Lily exclaimed, turning to face her friends incredulously. "There's no time to eat, I've got to get started on the Transfiguration essay!"
"What?" Grace asked, scrunching up her face. "Why?"
"Well isn't it obvious?" she admonished. "I've got to score better than Potter."
"Lily," Julie said softly, looking down at the furiously writing girl. "C'mon, let's go get-"
"I can't do anything right now," she said absently, peering over her book for further reference. "I've just discovered an excellent article."
Grace and Julie gave a collective sigh. While Julie reluctantly took a seat next to Lily and ruffled through her own notes, Grace lingered by the bookshelves, looking for anything of interest.
"Who am I kidding," she said to herself, as her fingers ran down the spine of an ancient and unrecognizable book, "something thrilling in this old place? Highly unlikely."
"The first sign of insanity is talking to yourself," a voice informed her from behind a shelf.
Grace jumped away from the books, and the look of shock on her face must have been apparent because laughter soon followed.
Furrowing her brows angrily, she turned the corner and was met with a grinning Sirius, surrounded by his fellow Marauders. "'Ello there," he greeted cheekily.
Beside him James smiled as well, but his gaze was in the direction of the frantic image of Lily. "Look at her," he said, amused. "She's right old mad, she is." Next to him, Peter peered over his shoulder, and Remus stood engulfed in a book.
Grace rolled her eyes. "Don't scare me like that, you goon," she said to Sirius in an annoyed voice, albeit smiling slightly. "I almost thought the book was talking to me. You never know in this place..."
"Ah yes, books can be quite frightening," Sirius said, arching a brow and smiling coyly. He swiftly slid off a pile of books from the shelf, and began to leaf through them. "Yes, see this one, it's extremely scary. Just look at those terrifying pictures."
He tilted the book a bit and an image of several birds hopping in the snow came into view. "Oh, and this one, would you just look at those scary stars and moons."
"Shut up, Sirius," Grace said, making a face.
"Oh but wait," he said in a hushed voice, as he reached over to grab the last book. "This one looks especially creepy, what with this picture of a bunny rabbit on the front." He made a slow and steady motion to open the cover, his movements unnaturally long as he mocked Grace. "I will protect you m'lady, from the horrors this- ahhh!!!"
Sirius cut off from his cavalier-like facade as he let out a loud and piercing shriek. As soon as he had opened the book it let out a loud and venomous cackling, a hag's head protruding from its pages. He hurriedly slammed the book shut, panting from the sudden shock.
The others were laughing their heads off.
"I'm sorry Sirius," Grace said between gasps of air, "I didn't catch that last bit. You'll protect me from the horrors this... ahh?"
Everyone dissolved into laughter once more, while Sirius stood tall to uphold his pride. "Well I told you they were frightening," he said indignantly.
"That you did," James said, clapping him on the back.
"I suppose you could've told him, eh Remus?" Grace asked, smiling at the boy. "You're familiar with the books and such."
Remus looked at her a moment before nodding quickly, and re-opening his book.
"Is that any good?" she asked, peering over at the large book.
Remus didn't look up, yet again engrossed in the literature. He mumbled something incomprehensible and Grace shrugged, turning back towards James and Sirius. "Well, see you blokes later. I've got to go try and haul Lily down to the Hall."
With that she left, and James turned to replace the books. "Alright, I think we've got all that we need," he said, shifting a large stack of novels and grabbing the books they had discreetly stacked behind them. "Ready then?"
Sirius nodded and looked over at Remus. "Are you com-" he cut off and he looked at him strangely as Remus continued to read from his book. "Remus, why is your book upside down?"
"What?" Remus asked, snapping his head up to face Sirius. "Oh, that, that's..." He looked back down at his book and righted it. "Well," he said slowly. "I just read an article that stated all sorts of different styles of reading. I was interested to try it out... by doing this you can find... unique codes and such."
There were a few moments of silence, in which Sirius stared back at the boy and his unconventional style of reading, and Remus looked back hopefully.
"That's brilliant," Sirius nodded. "I'm definitely going to try that one of these days."
Remus's sigh of relief went unnoticed as the two boys hurried to catch up with James and Peter. On their way out of the grand doors they passed by Grace and Julie heaving a protesting Lily out of the doorway, the frantic red-head reaching desperately for her books as her friends looked on the verge of exhaustion.
That next Monday in Defense Against the Dark Arts, Professor Fides stood at the head of the class, handing out thick stacks of parchments.
"These would be your current grades," he informed them. "Points from the tasks are included on the left hand column, for you to evaluate your team's progress."
"Full marks," James hooted. He grinned at his team. "We're bloody brilliant, eh?" His team members smiled back, as each glanced at their own grade sheet.
"What'd we get?" Sirius asked, leaning over to Lily's desk.
Lily glared at him over the parchment. "Far from full marks, Sirius. Which of course could've been easily prevented if you hadn't blown up our challenge!"
Sirius shrunk back. "Hey, you can't blame it all on me. You reacted way too slow with those mashed potatoes, if I recall."
Lily looked ready to blow a casket, but just then the professor began to address the class. "As you well know, the school year is almost complete," he said, smiling as the students perked up, "and as are the tasks. These by no means are your final grades, and you will have plenty of time to increase your score.
"As exams are approaching," he continued, "the number of challenges will descend immensely, but I advise you to nevertheless keep an eye out."
The students nodded in understanding, looking back at their parchments; they spent the remainder of the class talking quietly amongst their teammates.
"Thank goodness we've got lunch," Grace commented, as soon as they exited the class-room. "I'm-"
"I know what you mean," Lily said, her words rushed as she hurried down the hall. "Another hour of free time to work on the essay before Transfiguration begins."
"I was going to say, because I'm starving," Grace said, shaking her head as Lily increased her pace towards the Great Hall.
Julie sighed, as she and Grace sped up to catch up with her. "Lily," she said, as they occupied two seats near her, "you've already written your entire paper and then some, what else could you possibly do to it?"
"Oh plenty," she said, taking out a large pile of books and plopping them on the table. She took out a quill and traced the lines of her essay with the tip, mumbling quietly to herself.
"Yup, she's definitely mad."
Lily looked up to see the Marauders standing before her, James shaking his head sadly. "We've lost her, we've truly lost her."
Aside from a small huff, Lily ignored him and went back to her proof-reading.
"Do you think she's an alien?" James asked with mock curiosity, tilting his head at Sirius. "I've never seen anyone act this way... or look, for that matter."
Lily looked up at him and narrowed her eyes. "Shove off."
James threw back another insult that made Lily scowl, as she shoved her book to the side and glared up at him.
"I could be angry," she said slowly from behind clenched teeth.
"Could be?" Sirius muttered softly.
"But I'm not," she continued in the same forced calm voice, "because we'll see who's laughing when our essay grades come back." She smiled at this, repositioning herself over the parchment and returning to the assignment.
James turned to Sirius. "There's an essay?"
A/N: Well, sorry it's so short folks, next chapter should (hopefully, lol) be longer. Oh btw., I'm pretty sure Ch. 27 is going to be the last of third year. Yay!
Luna Gypsy- Thanks for the review, I always look forward to yours!
Misty Cherry- Wow, long review, I'm really glad you liked it so much ; )
Windowseat Wonderer- Ooh, I love Kudos. But that's beside the point. Thanks for the review!
Molly- Yes, I suppose Sirius was a bit apologetic, but it is Sirius after all. Don't ask me what that means, I don't even know ; p Thanks for the review!
Romulan Empress- Hehe, yes, they are both the stupidest. I'm glad you liked it! Btw., what's your name stand for? It's unique.
SuperHiperChit- Oh wow, glad you enjoyed it so much! How's that story coming...
MidnightPrincess- Yupyup, you were right! Good job, thanks for the review!
Gaby-Malfoy- Yeah, James might've been a bit harsh, but I just wanted to show how much no one else could replace their best buds. Lol, your 'give him to me' statement made me laugh. Oh, btw.. have you updated your story recently? I think my computer screwed it up... dumb technology.
Aerandir- Wow, you really liked the joke ; p Thanks for the review!
Vanima Failiss- Lol, that's okay, we're all a bit clumsy. Thanks for the review!
butterfly-elf- Don't worry, it'll continue to do that (or try at least), thanks for the review!
Manny2003- I tried m'dear, I tried. ; p
Oksana- Glad you like the chapters, and yes, I'll e-mail you. (Lol, sorry, I forgot)
MelissaMoony- Wow, thanks for the review! It made me feel special ; ) Ah the land of no computers... crazy stuff I tell you.
EW4eva- Lol, I know it didn't last long, but I just couldn't bear to have them fight any longer. It was just too tough. Thanks for the review!
iluvsnuffles- Oh, so true. Thanks for the long review, much appreciated!
Killer-purple-froggy/Lanette- Thanks for the review, I'm glad you liked it : )
Midnightawoke2- What other funny phrases? I do have to commend you though, your confusing reviews have become (slowly but surely) increasingly comprehendible. Lol, thanks bunches for the reviews!
Cait1025- Ah yes, tis sad but true about Peter. Stupid bloke ; )
Suji- Insanely stupid and pointless? Sounds splendid! Hehe, thanks for the review!
Amy Lampion- Lol, yeah, my parents worry when I laugh at the computer too, it's okay. Glad you giggled ; )
Jounin-Elite- Already talked to you about Rosmerta, so that's settled, and about Sirius, hehe, yeah, I realize that was a bit over-dramatic.
MilesFromNormal- It is sad that such a wonderful creature was born from such evil ones. ::sigh:: Thanks for the review ; )
CotN4life- Wow, thanks for the long review, I'm really glad you like it : ) Very awesome name (even though I don't know wrestling..) Thanks again!
Siriuslyfun19212- Oh yes, I definitely know what you mean. I looove the 'I'd die for you' best friend thing too, and I hope I portray that. Thanks for the review!
kawwai-kitsune- Anti-Harry Potter?! Oh my. Hehe, well I'm glad she enjoyed the story nevertheless, thanks bunches!
May- Hola! Okay, about Sirius calling him a cheater. He was mad at James for acting that way about his parents, but he's not the type that will just come right out and say it, you know? So, I said 'his eyes searched wildly and met the chessboard...' as in, he was just searching for a spur of the moment excuse to get mad at him. Get it? It's okay if you don't, I confuse even myself sometimes... thanks for the review!
Blackiebrens- Word up.
????- Thanks for the review, oh, and they're in their third year. Glad you like it : )
Sun Kissed Rose- Thanks for the review, I promise I'll check out your story ASAP, and nope, not too late to join!
espergirl04- You don't know how good your review made me feel. Oh my... it was just, yay! Hehe. I'm very glad I could make you and your bro laugh, hope you enjoy the rest!
Oliverwoodschic- Hehe, yeah, my beta said the same thing when she was reading it. About the dickens, that is. I don't really know where it came from.. lol, thanks for the review ; )
Silverpheonix2- ::sigh:: No, I must admit I did not make up the joke, but I can't remember where I heard it, so I therefore couldn't disclaim it. So... if the person who made that joke up is out there, I disclaim you. Thanks for the review(s)!
Poohdog- I'm glad you liked it, and yes, I completely agree about Peter. It wouldn't be such a tragedy if they weren't friends and he betrayed him, right? Thanks for the review!
MoonysGal2181- Wow, thanks so much for the review, it really made my day! I'm glad you enjoyed it, thanks again!
Ashley- I'm glad you liked the beginning, hope you enjoyed the rest ; )
Evil Scratching Post- Hehe, I'm happy you liked it so much! Thanks for the review ; )
Silky- Thanks for the review, I really appreciate it!
FreckledIrishMaiden- Thanks for the reviews!! Lol, glad you liked the joke, and sorry about the SBFC... btw, what was your old penname? I sort of forget... : )