Chapter Seventeen

Of Committees and Tantrums

Author's Note: And here it is. The chapter we have been waiting for for months. Be glad.

Disclaimer: Not ours. Well, the story is, but not the characters or locations.

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Lily sat with her friends, trying to talk some more sense into Bria, and then trying to get Emma to agree to go to the carnival with Remus.

"Come on, Em." Bria wheedled. "It would be fun. You could go with Remus, I could go with either Justin or Snape, and Lils will be going with James. It will be lovely. You already said you would. No backing out now."

"I just don't feel right doing that. I feel as though if I asked him to go with me, I would be putting him in an uncomfortable place."

"Oh, Emma. You're being ridiculous. There is only one reason that you would POSSIBLY being making Remus 'uncomfortable', and I am sure that he wouldn't mind that discomfort too terribly much." Bria insisted.

"Oh my." Lily said. "This is Remus you're talking about, Bria. It does change the circumstances to some extent."

"Not really. He is still male. Nothing is really any different than if I was talking about James or Sirius or Justin, or Frank, or Rose."

"Um, Rose is not a guy." Emma pointed out.

"She might as well be for all her…"

"Needs?" Lily suggested.

"Exactly."

"No. No, Bria." Emma said, "Remus is indeed male but that doesn't mean he's just like all the other blokes around here who can only send blood to one part of their body at once."

"So you admit that it's possible that the blood is not only going to his brain?" Bria said.

"No! That is not what I meant at all. You just enjoy twisting my words."

Lily and Bria laughed.

"Stop. Don't laugh."

"I'm sorry, Em," Lily managed, "I'm not just laughing at you. Just, the image of Remus is – it's – hehe!"

"Shut up." Emma said, trying to hid her own grin. "It's not funny."

Bria snorted which set Lily off again.

Emma bit her lip but a giggle escaped. "Okay, okay! Fine! It's a little bit funny! But just a little bit!"

"Or a big bit! Hahaha, you never know!" Bria exclaimed

And at that point Emma gave up. Okay, she admitted to herself, perhaps it was a bit funny.

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Later that evening, Lily and James were getting together to figure out whom to assign to which 'volunteering' departments for the carnival preparations.

"Okay, how about Emma for the food committee?" Lily suggested.

"Yeah. Emma would be good for the food, but we need someone else to work with her." James agreed.

"Okay. How about Remus?"

"Yes! Definitely!" James said, laughing.

"Okay," Lily said, laughing. "But who for the petting zoo?"

"Well, Bria hates animals, so she's out. So is Sirius." James said, trying to think of someone who didn't hate animals.

"Well, how about Rose?" Lily suggested. "She probably hates animals, but she can still work with them."

"All right. That works. But who for the decorations? Bria and Sirius?"

"Ooh, I don't know, James. You know how things have been between them. I want them to work things out just as much as you do but I've got a feeling that we might not want to put them on the same committee. I don't want to find either of them hanged by streamers or stabbed with scissors."

"Well, neither do I. But maybe they'll be able to work things out if they have a reason to be together for enough time to listen to each other."

Lily considered this and concluded that James was probably right. "All right. Bria and Sirius in charge of the decorations."

"Okay. How many more committees do we have?" James asked, trying in vain to count them on his fingers.

"Three, if you include the all over committee, which we are in charge of." Lily said, consulting her list."

"Okay, but what are they?" James asked.

"Rides, Games and Activities, and then the all over committee, and we are the only people in that one."

"Right." James nodded. "So, Justin can do Games and Activities with Samantha, and Frank and Alice can work together on the rides, since Alice is muggle born, isn't she? So that means she will know what a ride is."

"Right." Lily said, marking it down on one of her many lists. "That will work perfectly. And then we can set out sign-up sheets outside the Great Hall so that anyone from any house can sign up to help."

"Great. So is there anything else we need to work on?"

"Not until we have seen each of the committees rough plan. So it looks as though we are done planning. For now. How's Sirius? I heard about what happened."

James considered for a moment. "I need a cast on my tail."

Lily looked at him for a moment. "James, I don't understand you. You don't have a tail, and that doesn't very well answer my question."

"Yes, it really does. He was so angry he broke my tailbone. It hurt, but Remus wouldn't check to see if it had a fracture."

"…Right. Well, not doing so well, then?" Lily asked after a great pause.

"No. Not really. He is really hurt that Bria won't let him call her by her first name anymore. And that she completely believes that he would sleep with someone that he so obviously hates. He is just feeling very confused, too. He doesn't get why she won't let him apologize."

"Bria is…" Lily thought about Bria's reaction and decided it was probably for the best if Sirius' didn't find out about Bria's plan to take Justin to the carnival. "Bria is really upset as well. She's under the impression that Sirius has sealed both of their fates and that there's no going back."

James exhaled. "Well, maybe them working together will change their minds."

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"Just give me the list of thing to decorate and go away, Black! I don't need your help thinking of colours!"

"I think it's pretty evident that you're having a hard time thinking at all, Travystar!"

"Black! That was completely uncalled for!"

As it turned out, Lily had been right, and putting Sirius and Bria together on a committee had been a bad plan. No one had been willing to sign up to work with them, because the entire school knew they were fighting, and no one wanted to be caught in the middle of one of their fights.

"Besides, it is for Halloween! It is not terribly difficult to think up colour schemes for a holiday with colours already built in!" Bria continued, walking toward Sirius, with a bag of streamers in her hand. "Now, since Lily said I wasn't allowed to just hex you and make you turn into a bat, or something like that, you can decide what width streamers we need, and leave the rest to someone with actual taste."

"Travystar, you know you're not supposed to take things out on me just because it's 'that time of the month' again, so stop acting like a complete and total twat and stop ordering me around!" Sirius said, meeting Bria in the middle of the mess they had made while trying to find the streamers Lily had conjured before leaving.

"You stop acting like an overbearing prick, and I will stop acting like a 'twat'! But since that will NEVER happen, you have no RIGHT to tell me what to or not to do! Now, choose the fucking streamers!" At this point Bria was shouting up at Sirius, because they were so close they were practically touching.

"Do NOT speak to me in that manner, Travystar!" Sirius practically spit out her name, obviously sick of having to call her by her surname. "I will NOT choose your fucking streamers! You have had a stick up your arse since that day you saw me and Rose in Hogsmeade, which is positively absurd, because I have never, nor shall I ever, feel anything towards Rose, other than contempt, so you should just come down off your fucking high horse! I did not stop talking to you because you wanted to date Justin!"

"No! You just fucking FORBADE ME TO DATE! It is not your fucking decision! You're not my fucking mum and even if you were I would never listen to such a ridiculous demand! Why don't you just admit it! You were jealous that I would pay any attention to anyone other than you! You need so much fucking attention, that you can't even let your friends live their own lives! You just need them to attend to your every-fucking-whim!"

Bria twisted on her heal, storming from the room, and slamming every door she could reach, while Sirius tore down every streamer Bria had already hung up.

It wasn't at all satisfying.

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Rose stood in the pigpen, trying to identify the pigs. She carefully studied a furry animal with a long neck. As she peered at it, it spit on her. "EW! What kind of animal ARE you?" She picked up the animal identification book lying at her feet, and started flipping through the pages trying to identify the animal.

"Alpaca? That is disgusting. I wanted to work on decorations with Sirius! Instead I'm stuck with a stinky, spitting…ALPACA!" She said, stamping her foot, and flinging the book to the ground.

She stomped out of the pigpen, and went over to the girls' bathroom to wash the alpaca spit off her clothes. When she returned to the petting zoo she noticed something was wrong. There were no animals, and the gate to the pigpen was wide open.

"The Alpaca has escaped!" Rose shouted, as she dashed out the door, and into the corridors.

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Emma and Remus stood in a small room, surrounded by food and drinks and tables.

Emma glanced around the room for the hundredth time. "Okay, we've got food. We've got tables. Why do I feel like we're forgetting something?"

Remus, too, looked around the room, trying to assess what they were missing. "Wait… Where are the bowls?"

"Why should I know? You were in charge of bowls. I was in charge of tables."

Remus turned to look at her. "No, I was in charge of tables. You were in charge of bowls."

Emma opened her mouth to respond, when they heard thundering hooves in the corridors. They turned to look, and saw an unbelievable sight. Dozens of animals were racing through the castle, followed by a frantic Rose. "Wait, Alpaca! I'm sorry I called you stinky!"

There was a silence in which they both stood, staring, and then they turned back to each other, and the problem at hand.

Emma was the first to speak. "Well, now we have no bowls, and twice as many tables as we need."

Remus shook his head in amusement. "Well, let's transfigure half the tables in to bowls."

"I was just thinking that, Remus."

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Alice stood before a large Ferris wheel, writing something on her clipboard when Frank came up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Hey, Alice."

She turned to face him. "Yes?"

"What IS that?"

"It's a Ferris wheel. What does it look like?"

"A large spinning object of death."

"Frank, look at how slow it's going. How could it possibly kill you? Muggles go on them all the time, and they are fine."

"I still say it looks like death." Frank said, folding his arms over his chest, and going to inspect another ride.

"Alice! This one is really fast! And it also spins!" Frank said, staring in horror at the Scrambler.

"Yes, well, that one is a bit dangerous. But it still won't kill you. I promise." Alice said, walking over to join him.

Frank started backing away from the ride. "You know, I've been thinking about it. Maybe the muggles only live on these rides because they are muggles. Maybe they were DESIGNED to kill wizards."

"Frank, don't be ridiculous. Of course they weren't designed to kill wizards. I've gone on them a hundred times. They are fun." Alice said, shaking her head in exasperation. "Why don't we test one of them, and you can see just safe they are. Pick whichever one scares you the least."

Frank considered each of the rides in turn, and finally decided on the one with the large fake horses. "This one looks less deadly than the wheel of death, at least."

Alice gave a small laugh, and took his hand to lead him onto the ride. "All right. The carousel it is."

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Justin was lying upside down on a couch, with a list of game ideas in his hand. "What about bobbing for apples?"

Samantha looked at him in horror. "No! Absolutely not! How terribly sinful!"

Justin sighed, and rolled his eyes, and then went back to his list. "What about Pin-the-Tail-On-the-Donkey?"

"No! The poor animal!"

"Costume contest."

"No."

"Why not?"

Samantha stared at him as if he was rather slow. "Someone might dress as Satan."

"Well, what can we do?"

Samantha considered this for several moments. "We could have a bible reading. Anyone could pick their favorite passage, and read it aloud to an audience."

Justin rubbed his temples. "They must hate me. Like, really. They must have tried to find the worst torture possible for me, and this is what they decided on."

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Lily and James sat, looking over their lists one more time. "All right." Lily said, folding the lists back up, and putting them in her robes. "I think we're ready to go check up on everyone."

James stood up quickly, and offered his arm to Lily. "Let's go."

Lily laughed, and took his arm. "Who should we check on first?"

"Let's check on Justin and Samantha first."

They walked over to where the two Activities Planners were sitting but when Justin looked up at them, a wild look in his eye, and shouted "YOU ACTUALLY HAATE MEE" they quickly changed their direction. "We'll look in on them later, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"How about Emma and Remus? They are generally rather sane." Lily suggested.

They quickly turned toward the assigned room, and away from the crazed Justin. As they rounded to final corner, they heard Remus. "What else can we transfigure to make bowls?"

"Remus, we have transfigured everything in the room that we don't REALLY need! We just need to go out and GET bowls."

Lily and James walked into the room, to discover the two standing there amongst a sea of food, about three tables, and too few bowls. Lily quickly noticed that Emma was not wearing the necklace that she had put on that morning. James noticed that Remus was no longer wearing socks.

"Um, what is going on here?" Lily asked.

Emma looked up, rather resembling a deer caught in the headlights. "Um, we are…transfiguring everything into bowls. We forgot them." She explained, hanging her head in shame.

James looked at them incredulously. "You both forgot bowls? But… you're supposed to be the sane ones!"

"James, it's all right. At least neither of them think we hate them for some reason."

"Well, we are taking care of it. We transfigured most of the tables, Emma's necklace, my socks, two marshmallows, and a goblet into bowls." Remus said.

"Right…well, I can see you two are on top of everything, so we'll just go to the kitchens and get you some bowls from the house elves, and leave you be." Lily said, after a long moment of silence. With that, she and James left.

After a few moments Emma and Remus looked at each other. "You know, that's not a half bad idea."

Lily and James continued down the corridors, trying to decide whether to visit Bria and Sirius or Rose next.

"Um, let's check in on Bria and Sirius next. May as well not prolong the inevitable."

"James, you know the word 'inevitable'?" Lily asked, in minor astonishment.

"I do?"

"I should think so, as you just used it."

"Well, then yes. I do." James said, feeling rather pleased at having known such a seemingly impressive word.

The two continued down toward what was sure to be the worst visit. But upon arriving at the room Bria and Sirius were supposed to be decorating first, they were shocked to discover it empty.

Lily was the first to speak. "They left. And they didn't even do any decorating."

"No, no. There are some streamers. Dangling from the overpass. Where someone hung them. And someone else tore them down. Just…hanging there. Blowing in the wind."

"James, if streamer could be alive, those would be dead ones."

"Hey, that sort of sounds like something I would say."

Lily turned to glare at her companion. "James, this was a dreadful idea. Now they must hate each other more than ever."

James considered this for a moment. "Or they realized how they feel about each other."

"James! Why would there be dead streamers if that was the case?"

"Um, I don't know. They tore them down while fleeing the room in a mad passion?" James suggested feebly.

"James, this is Bria and Sirius we are talking about. That did not happen."

"Well, I suppose. Let's just fix these streamers before going to check on Rose." James suggested, trying to make Lily realize that he could be just as mature as she could. Or at least as mature as Remus.

Lily shrugged. "All right. Did they leave any streamers here?"

James looked around. "Yeah, they did. There are about a million different streamers in black and orange right over there. I'll magic them up."

Once they were done, the two started off toward the animal corral near the dungeons. They arrived there, and immediately realized that something was wrong. There were not animals in sight. And Rose was gone.

"Wow. I don't think a single committee has done what we asked them to." James said after a second.

"No, I don't think so. But to lose the animals?"

"Well, let's just summon them. Accio petting zoo!"

Within a couple of moments, all the animals were restored to their pen, and the gate was shut. Within another moment a panting Rose showed up.

"I was in the bathroom to wash off the spit, and then they were gone! The stinky Alpaca was leading them to freedom! So I chased them! And we were running, and we were running, and then, all of a sudden, they were flying!"

Lily and James just stared for several moments until, at last, James found his voice. "Well, they are back now. I think you should take a break. How about in twenty minutes you come back and feed the animals. Don't forget to lock the gate when you leave though."

"Right. But you tell that Alpaca to stop spitting on me." Rose agreed.

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YAY!! We actually updated! You must be proud! We are so, terribly sorry that it has taken us this long. But this is a long chapter, so mayhap you forgive us? We will update again soon, and hopefully more regularly for a bit. Anyway, please, please read and review. Well, you've already read, so please review. And please no flames.