Year 1: The Legend Unfolds
Chapter Eleven: Christmas Cheer's A coming
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize.
A/N: Here is the next chapter! I really hope you like it. It's relatively Christmasy. And then next chapter is the actual Christmas chapter. So yay! Please read and REVIEW at the end! And also, I have a new one-shot up, in honor of St. Patrick's day, which is TODAY! So you can check out that one too if you feel like it. So read and enjoy!
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Bertie Bots
Drouple's Gum
Candy is so fun
They're good to eat
But not in class
The teachers want to teach, HEY!
"That is probably one of the worst spoofs of Jingle Bells I've heard in my entire life," James said, as he passed a group of ghosts who were singing it.
"What's wrong with it?" Alice asked, "I think it's cute."
"Cute? It's insulting!" Sirius insisted. Lily rolled her eyes.
"How in the world could that song be insulting?"
"Because. They are pretty much saying that we are all stupid enough to think that we are allowed to eat in class. Who would think that?" Sirius said.
"Erm, Sirius? You got a detention in transfiguration yesterday because you were eating ice mice in class..." Remus pointed out.
"Yes, but that wasn't because I didn't know we weren't allowed to, it was simply because I didn't care," Sirius said, causing the rest of them to laugh.
"And besides, it doesn't even rhyme. And there are a bunch of extra syllables in there that don't fit," James continued.
"Oh, and I'm sure you could do better?" Lily said skeptically.
"He probably could," Sirius said.
"I personally would love to hear this," Marlene said.
"Well then here I go," James said. He cleared his throat and began to sing, making the song up as he went along.
"Pranks and blames
Quiddich games
Filling you with doubt
These are all
The things that my
Life is all about. HEY!"
James finished singing, and everyone around him was laughing. A few people who were walking down the hallway had stopped to listen to him, and Peter was actually clapping.
"Pretty impressive," Sirius said, "You'll have to teach it to me."
"Um, there really isn't much to it mate," James said. They continued walking, and when they reached their destination, the Great Hall, they sat down at the table for lunch.
It was Monday, and there were only two more weeks until Christmas break started. It had been about a week since James and Sirius came back to find their dorm trashed. James had warned Brighid about it, and she stopped storing the watch in her dorm. She said she found a safe place to keep it- James later found out that meant in her pants pockets with the opening charmed shut so only she could open. James had to admit it was clever.
The young Gryffindors sat down at the Gryffindor table, and they all began to eat their lunch. They joked and laughed, their spirits light since they all knew that only had another two weeks of classes to go through.
"James!" came a sudden yell from across the hall. James looked up and saw Brighid running toward him. Her cheeks were flushed, and her curly black hair was flying out behind her. She stopped in front of him, panting slightly. She looked around the hall, as if she was looking for someone, and when she didn't seem to find him, she let out a breath of relief.
"What's up Brighid?" James asked, confused and a little concern.
"You need to come with me now!" Brighid said. She then grabbed his shirt and yanked him out of his chair.
"Hey, watch it!" James exclaimed.
"What is going on Brighid?" Lily asked, looking up at the girl who had quickly become her mentor at Hogwarts. Not just because she had known her before, but also because she was the top of her class, something Lily was aspiring to.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it. Just a family thing," Brighid said.
James was yanked out of the hall by Brighid, many people looking after them. Unnoticed by all, due to the distraction, Professor Avery slipped into the hall from the door behind the staff table, pulling the sleeve of his robe down over his left arm.
"What's your deal?" James asked as Brighid pulled him along the hallways. She dragged him up the stairs, and when he almost tripped, he convinced her that he was able to walk on his own.
"Where are we going?" James asked, running slightly to keep up with his sister, who had considerably longer legs, and was almost running herself anyway.
"Seventh floor, now just keep up!" Brighid said, turning her head to look at her brother stumbling behind her. When they finally made it to the seventh floor, Brighid stopped short randomly, causing James to bump into her.
"Hey!" he exclaimed, looking at what she was doing. He frowned when he realized that she was standing in front of a blank wall, pacing back and forth.
James sighed, turned around to see if anyone was here to witness this moment of his sister's craziness, and when he looked back he saw that there was suddenly a door where there had been just wall moments before.
"Wh- where did that come from?" James asked as his sister yanked the door open and threw him inside the room it lead to.
Brighid closed the door and saw James was looking around, amazed.
"What is this place?" He said. He looked around and saw two huge couches, a fire place, and a counter piled with food. There were also pictures on all of the walls.
"It's called the room of requirement, and you can get anything you want in here by just requesting it. If I feel the sudden urge to have a giant pink stuffed bear, there it is," Brighid said. She was pointing off into a corner and James turned to see just what she had said, a giant stuffed bear.
"So why are we here?" James said, making a mental note to tell Sirius, Remus, and Peter about his place.
"I needed to talk to you without chance of being overheard," Brighid said, "You know how you said that Avery raided your dormitory about a week ago?" Brighid said. James nodded.
"Well, when I came home today my room was absolutely trashed, and no one knew who did it," James looked shocked.
"Is the watch okay?" He asked worriedly.
"Yes, I had it with me," Brighid said, and James heaved a sigh of relief.
"Oh great, I just remembered I have Defense right after lunch," James said. He suspected that Avery was going to be in a bad mood since he didn't find the watch.
"Listen, James, don't say anything to him that even remotely concerns the watch, and no matter what don't ever be alone in a room with him. We know that he wants the watch, and if he even slightly suspects that you have it with you, I'm fairly sure that he wouldn't hesitate in harming you to get it. I'm thinking of going to Dumbledore about his, but we don't have any actual proof that it's Avery who is doing this," Brighid said, and James nodded obediently.
"And, listen James, I need to tell you something about why this watch is so important," Brighid said. She said an incantation and pulled the watch out of her pocket by its long chain.
BANG! Brighid and James both jumped as the door was thrown open. Into the room came two horny teenagers, deep in a make out session. Brighid shoved the watch in James's hand quickly.
"Take it, James. It's yours not mine, and Mom told me to give it back to you. I'll teach you the spell to charm it in your pocket if you want another time, but for now we had probably just get out of here. The room of requirement is often used by people to snog if there aren't any open broom closets," Brighid said, "I think we should be able to just slip past these guys." The siblings walked out and closed the door behind them to give the kids some privacy. Just then, James's stomach growled loudly, and he realized that he had missed most of lunch.
James and Brighid went their separate ways, and when James got back to the table, he told the guys that he had something to tell them later, the watch creating a small lump in his pocket, reminding him that it was there and in danger.
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"Avery, have you any news for me?" Voldemort asked, looking around the circle of Death Eaters around him.
"Yes, I do," he said, bowing low to the ground before getting up again, "I searched both of the Potter kid's rooms thoroughly, and still have yet to find the watch. It is possible that one of them is carrying it around with them, as that is what the boy was doing before, but I can't be sure," Avery said. Voldemort nodded.
"Find out. Search their bags, belongings, pockets, do everything you can until we find that watch. You know was well as I do that we need it for our little plan to succeed."
"Yes my Lord," Avery said, bowing and stepping back into the circle. He knew now that he desperately needed to find the watch; he could not continue to let down his master. That could only lead to trouble.
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"Wow, talk about a long freaking essay! Why in the world would he give us so much homework when its two weeks until Christmas?" Sirius complained to James as they were packing their bags up after Defense Against the Dark Arts class. James had convinced the boys to sit in the back with him because he was a little bit afraid of Professor Avery, and the boys happily complied. As the young Gryffindor boys started to walk out the door, they heard a yell from behind them that made them stop.
"Oh James, could you wait a moment please?" Professor Avery called from his desk. James stopped in the doorway, but hesitated before turning around. He told his friends to wait for him just outside the door and turned around.
"Yes Professor?" James said, turning around and looking at the man before him, while he still stood very close to the door.
"Could you come in a little bit more James? I just want to talk to you about something," James started to walk into the room more but he suddenly remembered what Brighid said. Don't ever be alone in a room with him.
"I have to go Professor," James said suddenly before bolting out of the room and almost running smack into Sirius who was waiting outside the door for him.
"Woah, easy there tiger. What was that all about?" Sirius asked as he and James started walking down the hall quickly.
"Avery asked me to stay after again, and I was about to close the door when he got this strange look on his face, and I remembered what Brighid said, about not being in a room alone with him. She said that if he thought I had the watch, he wouldn't think twice about stealing my bag to check it or even hurting me to get in my pockets. It just kind of hit a little to close to home, especially with him looking at me so weird like that." James explained.
"Oh wow. Why in the world does he want that watch so bad?" Sirius said.
"I've been thinking about that," James responded, "And I was thinking that maybe he doesn't want the watch for himself, but rather he is getting it for someone else. I mean it's a Potter family heirloom, what possible use could he have for it? I mean he surely has his own heirlooms from his family, right?"
"But then you would have the question of who else would want it so badly, unless it is a weird long lost relative. But honestly, what are the odds of that?" Sirius replied.
"I don't know," James said. He and Sirius walked the rest of the way in silence, and James gave the password when they reached the portrait hole. All of the first year Gryffindors had a break then, and when they opened the portrait hole they saw Remus and Peter sitting in armchairs by the fire, waiting for them.
After checking that the girls were no where in the room, James began to fill the other two boys in on the latest goings on with Avery and the watch.
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"Excellent class today kids, really. Make sure you clean up before you leave for dinner. Oh, and James, Lily, Sirius, Alice, Remus and Severus, could you please stay after for a few minutes?" Slughorn said after potions class the next day. The six kids he called headed up to his desk after class was over, and Lily had a feeling that it had something to do with the Slug Club, as these were the people who had gone before, with the exception of Alice.
"I just want to let you kids know that I am having a Christmas get together for the Slug Club this Friday night," Slughorn said, confirming Lily's suspicions. Slughorn went on to explain to Alice what the Slug Club was, but as Lily had complained to her about what happened to James at the last one, she already knew.
"That is so cool that I'm invited this time. And we can bring friends, so Melanie and Marlene can come to," Alice said to Lily as they walked down the hall to their next class, Charms.
In Charms class they continued to work on the charm they had been doing before– the color change charm. So far only Lily and Remus had managed to turn their apples purple.
When Friday night arrived that week, it was to find the four Gryffindor first year girls in their dorm, waiting for the Slug Club meeting to begin.
"So, what do we do at this thing?" Alice asked.
"I've already told you– nothing. We sit around, mingle, talk to people, drink nasty punch, and go home after about 2 hours," Lily said, casually flipping through a copy of Preteen Witch Weekly.
"But... there has to be more to it than that," Alice insisted.
"Believe me, there isn't," Lily replied, looking up from her magazine to gaze at her friend.
"But then... why would he have it in the first place? Surely we would do something?" Alice asked again, causing everyone to groan.
"Nope..." Lily said again, focusing back on her magazine. Alice frowned and spent the next 30 minutes thinking of what they could be doing at the Slug Club meeting.
When it was time for them to leave, they all walked down the steps into the common room, Melanie and Marlene with them, as Lily and Alice had invited them as their guests. Alice walked ahead excitedly, and Lily smiled to herself, eager to see the look on the young girls face when she finally realized there was actually nothing to do at the Slug Club.
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Okay, another chapter down! So now James has the watch... will Avery get it? Will James be able to protect it? Found out next time! REVIEW and I'll update faster!!
Next chapter: The kids go home for Christmas, all except for Sirius and Marlene. Basically it's just a fun, filler chapter I think. But it's suuuuper long! So REVIEW!!!