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Stopping dead in our tracks, I turned to Oliver. All the color drained from his face and was replaced with a look of terror. I didn't look past his eyes. I couldn't.
To anyone else, the shrill scream would immediately trigger the thought of a girl, but to us, who have known him for so long, we knew that Percy would scream like a woman when he was incredibly angry. Sad, we knew, but still, it didn't change the fact that we had been caught. The only problem was, how much had he seen?
Oliver was the first to turn. When his eyes finally left mine, I had to squeeze mine shut. Our plan had ended within an hour, and now everything would be ruined. It just wasn't fair.
My eyes stayed shut tight, even after I heard Oliver gasp and let out a deep breath. Could Percy really be so mad? I heard stomping and huffing, till I sensed he was next to us, then finally open my eyes.
My surprise and shock created the same reaction of Oliver's.
In front of Oliver, beat red with shoulders hunched and tiny fists balled, was a ferociously angry side of Suze that I had never seen before. At first, I was shocked that it wasn't Percy. I would have sworn my life on it that it was him who screamed. Then, after getting over that it in fact was Suze, I cringed back behind Oliver, brinking terror as she huffed and her eyes burned. I could have never imagined her so furious.
"Why did you leave me in Hogsmeade, Oliver?" She asked accusingly in a sharp voice.
"Well, I...You see, I..." Oliver struggled for words. It was the first time I had seen him so nervous, but I couldn't blame him, even I was hiding from her.
"WELL!" She shrieked. He glanced at me for an explination, but all I could do was widen my eyes. Luckily, the hall was empty, otherwise we would have definitely had a crowd around us.
"Well, I thought you were going to spend the day with your Ravenclaw friends. When we left, I didn't see you in the shop on the way out, so I thought you had just went with them. I'm really really sorry...really. I, uh, I looked everywhere for you though. I was actually sad when I couldn't find you. Right Penelope, right?" Looking at me for reinforcement, I quickly peeked out from behind his back.
"Oh yes, he was crushed. Honest. I told him that you probably went to tea with the girls. It wasn't exactly our fault Suze, you know how crowded Honeydukes can be. We're lucky we found Percy. We really just couldn't find you." I nodded enthusiastically to reassure her.
"What do you mean 'we'? You two stayed together the whole time? That's...strange..." She said slowly, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Suddenly, we both jumped into explinations.
"No, no, not at all. We just happened to bump into each other..."
"Oliver came looking for you and I was just in one of the aisles he looked in."
"It was complete coincidence." We spoke fast and kept stealing glances at each other. She still looked suspicious and looked at us both, trying to see the truth.
A sly grin swept over her face and she sauntered over to me, brushing Oliver's arm. I straightened and stood rigid as she approached slowly with one hand on her hip.
Taking some of my hair between her thumb and forefinger, she rubbed it between her fingers and said slowly as if she knew some great secret, "You know, Penelope, dearest...you're hair feels awfully damp..." she looked over at Oliver with flirtatious eyes that swept over him, "you too Oliver, honey." She let go of me and moved to Oliver. He stiffened slightly.
"Oh, after we couldn't find you in the store, I went to see if you were outside. I got caught in the rain, but Oliver was so frantic to find you, I didn't want to go inside without looking thoroughly for you..." I began, then Oliver jumped in to finish.
"And then I felt just awful that she was in the rain alone, so I went out to tell her to come back in. After she did, I kept looking for you, but once it stopped raining, Percy and Penelope came out, said they hadn't seen you, and we decided to leave. But honest, I was very disappointed that I couldn't find you."
Personally, I though it was an excellent story, and Suze seemed to be satisfied. I smiled at Oliver. Mission accomplished.
"Oh, Oliver! You sweetheart! You really cared that much about me? Oh, I knew you were just the right guy for me! It's alright that we're not in Hogsmeade, we can still spend the rest of the day together. Besides, with the castle practically empty..." she lowered her voice and stood on her tippy-toes to whisper in his ear, "it's even better."
He looked down at her seductive face and his only expression was raised eyebrows and widened eyes. I knew that my face boiled. I couldn't stand to see her try and seduce him the way she had with so many other boys. Not with my guy!
Her hand went to his cheek and stroked it. I wouldn't have called it an affectionate stroke. You can only be affectionate if you truly had affection for someone. All Suze had was lust. Once she had him for a while as a trophy, she would throw him away. No, her stroke was more provocative than anything. If she wasn't my friend, I might have even used the word 'sluttish.'
"Suze!"
She turned to me slowly, her hand still resting on his cheek.
"Yes, Penelope dear?"
"Don't you...have that report for Professor Lupin due? You really should get started. It's the perfect day for it."
"Oh, that can wait. Why waste time on work when I can have a great time doing other, more important things?" She turned back to Oliver. He looked at me helplessly and I grew more frantic by the second.
"Well..."
"Penelope!" My head snapped to the side past Oliver and Suze. Percy was marching towards us, a look of determination plastered on his face.
Oh great, just what I need right now.
"Percy, I thought you were going to the Great Hall, mate." Oliver said nervously. This whole situation was making everything very shaky, now that we had something to hide.
"I decided that it would spoil my dinner, and I couldn't let Penelope just sit here and grow more angry without talking to her. That would be irresponsible." He turned and looked me directly in the eyes, his voice softening. "As I told you before, I was going to try to be more responsible to our relationship, not only my duties. One of my greatest duties is to you."
"Well, obviously I've missed a bunch here, but I'll let you two talk. Actually, we'll let you two talk. See you guys later. Good luck." She said, winking and hold Oliver's arm. Thankfully, he refused to budge and stared at Percy and I.
Oliver's eyes caught mine and stared at me with question. I nodded my head towards Percy slightly, pretending I had itch on my shoulder, then shook my head. His eyes softened, then finally turned to realize Suze was tugging at him with all her might.
Percy opened door the dragged me inside, just as Suze was dragging Oliver away. We looked helplessly at each other just as Suze pulled Oliver past the doorway, and the door snapped shut between us.
By the time I turned away from the door, Percy was already pacing in front of the couch. He looked to be in deep thought with his hands clasped behind his back and his eyes narrowed with trouble.
Although I took notice to how he was pacing, I had already forgotten what I was in the common room for. My mind was clouded with thoughts of what Suze would try to do with Oliver.
Without a reason to talk to Percy in mind, as a reflex, I headed straight to my room. Before I made it past the couch, Percy burst out into complaint.
"Where are you going? Don't you know that I want to talk to you? I don't know where your mind has been Penelope, but it certainly hasn't been here in Hogwarts with me." He scolded, stopping his pacing and planting his hands on his hips, impatiently tapping his foot.
But my mind had been in Hogwarts...just not necessarily with him.
"I'm sorry Percy, I'm just tired I guess." I answered wearily, turning towards the stairs again.
"Well you were definitely not too tired to bawl me out in the hallway. And in front of Oliver, no less! If you have a problem with me Penelope, we should discuss it calmly and rationally in private. Not like some child throwing a tantrum. You said you wanted to be treated like an adult, then for heaven's sake, act like one!" He spoke to me as if I were his daughter that he had just caught drinking or something. That definitely woke me up and got my blood boiling.
"That is just what I was talking about Percy! You treat me as a juvenile when I should be treated as your equal! I am not some child that needs to be guided through life. If anything, you are! You are such an old man, I should be calling you Grandpa. You never loosen up for anything. You hardly ever show any compassion, and if you do, it's about a 24 hour break and you're back at being you again!"
"What do you mean being me? I am me! You should try to be more like me! Look what I've already accomplished. Everyone respects me! I am loved by teachers and can get a prestigious job at the Ministry. I have the world going for me. I am only trying to get you to where I am at now. I'm trying to help you, because I love you. If you don't care to see that, then be that way, but do not embarrass me again in front of people the way you did today in the hallway." He folded his arms and nodded his head as if what he proclaimed was law.
"Embarrass you? Embarrass you? Is that what this whole thing is about? That I embarrassed you in front of the only other person who understands that you're a complete ASS! And you know what Percy, you're not some genius child! You're hardly even close to it! You study for 10 hours a day and hardly ever break for anything! Oliver and I, we hardly ever study what we need to know, and we get just as high marks as you do. We are just as qualified as you are for the Ministry. The only difference, is that we don't always go shoving in everybody's face! And NOBODY respects you! And if they did, it ends the second they first talk to you. People are disgusted and annoyed by you. And it's not jealousy, no. Don't think so highly of yourself. It's pure distaste."
His jaw dropped and he stared at me with disbelief that I was finally speaking out to him. Without Oliver here to stop me, I was far from being finished.
"And teachers, they can hardly stand you! Anyone can see it! It's not love, it's irritation. They love you about as much as you love having a single wrinkle in your robes. Oh, and while we're discussing love, let's talk about ours. You call what you show me love? Well, then that is pretty bloody disgusting, because the only thing I get out of it is a migraine. To hell with your bloody affection, because if that's all you have to give, I DON'T WANT IT! The 5 minutes a week I get of any sort of love from you, is not worth this aggravation!" With that, I turned and thrust open the portrait door, running out, leaving him behind in utter shock.
I kept running till I was pushing open the front doors of the castle. The sun was setting, but it was still fairly high in the sky. The Dementors wouldn't be near the castle for some time yet.
Walking aimlessly, hands in pockets, occasionally kicking a rock, I wandered around the grounds. I didn't look up, but kept my head down in thought. I found a path and started to follow it, not really caring where it led.
I tried to decide what to do. Should I go back to Percy and apologize? I knew it would be the kind thing to do, but it just didn't seem right. I had meant every word I said and it would be wrong to myself to take them back. Should I just run straight to Oliver? Throw myself into his arms and tell him that we should throw everyone else to hell, to just be together? I just couldn't decide.
Perhaps I should go back to Percy. Not exactly be the same with him, but apologize, just so Oliver's plan could work. Or, I could just leave Percy now. Nothing seemed to be right. There were so many problems with each choice. I knew I had to pick one, but I just couldn't seem to find the perfect solution. Each had it's dangers and faults.
As if fate had decided for me, telling me which to choose I stopped on the path and looked up to see where I was. That first night between Oliver and I, we had broken rules, acted dangerously, and although it had been irresponsible and an imperfect plan to go out into the night together alone, it had been the best night of my life, and completely worthwhile.
Looking up, I had led myself straight to the Quidditch Pitch.