Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own Mr Leprechaun. He tells me to burn things.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Lily asked Emmeline the next morning.

"Is there such thing as a sugar hangover?" asked Emmeline, clutching her head. "Oh…What was I thinking?"

"You said you were Homer Simpson," Dorcas told, putting toothpaste onto her toothbrush.

"I did?" said Emmeline. "Wow, I did have a lot of red cordial…"

"Forget about it now," said Lily, brushing her red hair. "We've got classes today."

"What?" groaned Emmeline. "I can't go to class in this state."

"Sure you can," said Dorcas. "Remember when I had to go to class when I drank all that Firewhiskey as a bet?"

Emmeline giggled. "That was classic. You were asleep in Transfiguration, and McGonagall had to let off Filibuster's Fireworks to wake you up."

Dorcas smiled. "I can still remember her face when I opened my eyes…I should have taken a picture."

Lily grinned as she tied her hair up. "Come on," she told her two best friends. "I'm hungry for some breakfast."

.x.x.x.

"It should be made illegal to have Potions first period," Dorcas complained as they trooped down to the dungeons after breakfast.

Lily nodded in agreement. She hated the way Slughorn treated her.

"Oh, Lily," said Emmeline. "I heard from Jake, who heard from Sylvester, who heard from India, who heard from Catlin, who heard from Remus," – Emmeline sighed as she said her crush's name – "that James gave Annapelle's little black book to Argent to open."

"That's nice," said Lily, still thoroughly confused from Emmeline's list of contacts.

"Ew," said Dorcas. "Speak of the devil…What is she wearing?"

"Huh?" said Lily, turning around.

"Lily!" squealed a small girl wearing violently pink robes. "What do think of my new robes? Mum sent them to me; she made them herself."

Lily blinked and swallowed to stop herself from throwing up. "Uh, they're…uh, nice Annapelle, but the uniform's black…"

"I know," said Annapelle. "I just wanted to show you them. Well, I'll see you!"

"Hey…Hey Annapelle!" Lily called after her as she began to walk away.

"Yeah?" said Annapelle, turning around and smiling happily.

"Have you found your notebook yet?"

Annapelle's face fell. "No. But I'm still looking…My trunk is almost like a jungle!" She laughed and ran off, her robes clearly visible amongst the other students.

Lily moaned slightly as they lined up outside the dungeon used for Potions class.

"Lily, did you even hear what I said before?" asked Emmeline.

"No," said Lily. "After you said three names, I tuned out."

"Well, I said that I heard from all those people that James gave the book to Tyson."

"What?" cried Lily, causing some of the other students to jump. The Slytherins threw her dirty looks.

"Keep it down Lily," said Emmeline, putting her hands on her head. "Remember? Sugar hangover…"

"Sorry," apologized Lily. "Excuse me while I confront Potter." Lily walked to the end of the line, where the four Marauders were laughing hard.

"Hello Evans!" greeted James. "What brings you to the Marauders end?"

Lily narrowed her eyes. "What did you do with it?"

"Do with what?" said James, feigning innocence.

"Annapelle Barson's little black book," said Lily. "I heard from Emmeline who heard it from…Never mind. She told me you gave it to Argent."

"Oh yeah," said James, realization spreading over his face. "I think I did that this morning at breakfast."

"Why?" asked Lily incredulously. "Don't you freaking well know, Potter, that he –"

"Knows ancient Greek? Yeah, that's why I'm letting him open it," said James, interrupting Lily.

Lily clenched her fists before storming back to the front of the line, where Dorcas and Emmeline were waiting expectantly.

"He gave it to him," Lily told them.

Dorcas and Emmeline sighed.

"Oh no," said Emmeline. "This will never end well."

.x.x.x.

"So, uh, remind me again why we are dressing up in black and sneaking up to the boys' dormitories?" said Dorcas, pulling on a black beanie.

"To steal Annapelle's little black book," replied Lily, pulling on her darkest pants.

"And, also, just remind about whether or not you actually know where Argent's dormitory is…"

Emmeline furrowed her brow. "It has a window…" she said slowly. "He told me once that he…" But here, Emmeline stopped short and went bright pink.

Dorcas raised an eyebrow, but pulled on her black shoes. "Who's up for a song?" she asked.

Lily fought to stop herself letting out a moan whilst Emmeline let hers out, and loudly.

"On the Ning Nang Nong, where the cows go bong, and the monkeys all say boo!"

"Dorcas…stop it," groaned Emmeline. Lily was now trying her best to keep a straight face and not join in with Dorcas.

"There's a Nong Nang Ning where the trees go ping, and the teapots jibba-jabba-joo!"

"Dorcas!"

"On the Nong Ning Nang, all the mice go clang," Lily was now joining in, "you just can't catch them when they do!"

"Guys!"

"SO IT'S NING NANG NONG, THE COWS GO BONG, NONG NANG NING, THE TREES GO PING! NONG NING NANG, THE MICE GO CLANG!"

"STOP IT!"

"WHAT A NOISY PLACE TO BELONG! YES IT'S THE NING NANG, NING NANG, NING NANG NONG! THE NING NANG, NING NANG NONG!"

"HONESTLY, QUIT IT! PLEASE!"

"Okay Em," said Dorcas, sitting down calmly on the bed she and Lily had just been jumping on. "Since you said please."

Emmeline let out a loud moan and locked herself in the bathroom.

.x.x.x.

"Okay, the plan is…Well, I guess we're gonna have to check every room for signs of Argent," said Lily in a hushed voice at the bottom of the boys' dormitory stairs.

"Absolutely brilliant plan," said Emmeline sarcastically. "I'm sure it'll be third time lucky."

It turned out to be fifteenth time lucky.

"If…" panted Dorcas, "I…have to…climb…one more…stair…I think…I will…die."

"Don't worry Dorcas," whispered Lily in an excited voice. "I think this is his room. Who else would share a dormitory with Lockhart and put up pictures of himself? Unless…"

"Don't even go there Lily," said Emmeline, who had recovered from her sugar hangover slightly.

Lily pulled a disgusted face. "Anyway," she said, changing the topic. "Let's find this book."

The three girls entered the dormitory, their wand tips ignited just enough for them to see and not to wake Lockhart, Argent or any of the other self-centred boys in that dorm.

"I think I have it!" whispered Dorcas triumphantly. "Hang on, it isn't locked or anything…Ew," said Dorcas in disgust and she threw the book back down into the pile of robes.

"What was it?" asked Emmeline, searching through a pile of autographing quills.

"Lockhart's…" Dorcas shuddered. "Little black book. A proper one. With comments…and signatures…"

The other girls shuddered.

Finally, Lily threw her wand down in disgust. "It's not here!" she moaned quietly. "Oh, where is it?"

Emmeline put a comforting arm around her best friend. "We'll find it, Lily," she told her. "It has to be in this school somewhere…"

"In anyone's hands," added Dorcas, trying to be helpful.

Emmeline glared at her. "Which we will burn for touching the book."

"And anyone's eyes could be reading it," added Dorcas. "All that stuff about how you go to the toilet, and your favourite things, what you're allergic to…"

"Dorcas," Emmeline hissed. "You're not helping."

"Sorry," muttered Dorcas. "Come on, I'm tired and Emmeline needs to recover more from her sugar hangover."

As Lily left with Emmeline guiding her, she couldn't help wondering, who the hell had Annapelle's little black book?

.x.x.x.

Just a note to say a big thank you to all of you lovely people who have reviewed! And that song that Lily and Dorcas were singing is one from the old episodes of Play School. And my friends know how annoying I can be when I start singing it…Hey, full time freak?