8 – A Drunken Mind Gives Sober Actions
On Mary's sixth day of wearing the sweater, she had had enough.
"I'm not going there!" she bellowed, referring to Hogsmeade. "No, no, NO!"
Anna rolled her eyes. "Yes you are!"
"But it's so ug-"
"People have already seen you in it the last four days. And besides that… it's not everyone who is in Hogsmeade."
"But-"
"ENOUGH!" Lily suddenly yelled.
Mary stopped trying to talk as Lily grabbed her hand and started to drag her down the stairs. Anna stood still for a second, and then she followed.
Hogsmeade Street was cold and bare. It was obvious that autumn was upon them. Yet the sun was shinning and the sky was clear. Mary was walking in between her two friends, trying to hide herself from other Hogwarts students.
"This is ridiculous," Anna muttered.
"You are," Mary shot back
Anna didn't respond as a shop window caught her eyes. "Come!" she exclaimedand grabbed Lily and Mary's hands.
"Where're we going?" Lily asked bewildered.
"In there!" Anna grinned.
"Oooh," Mary said. "I get it!"
As the three girls entered the shop, a bell rang and a broad-shouldered blonde guy stepped out from the back of the shop. He had several piercings and tattoos himself, and long hair gathered in a ponytail. Mary looked scared.
"Hi!" Anna said.
"Hey…" he said. "How can I help you?"
"My friend here was thinking of getting a piercing," Lily said.
Anna nodded and squeezed Mary's hand.
"Okay, where were you thinking?"
Anna shrugged. "I'm not sure yet… But I do have an idea."
"Okay. You can think about it while I go get the things ready."
Anna nodded as the man turned and she started to look at pictures of people with piercing all kinds of places. After a few minutes time she had made her decision. She left Lily and Mary to themselves as she followed the guy out to the back.
"Do you think she'll succeed?" Lily asked.
"Sure. It's Anna we're talking about," Mary said.
The two girls sat down on a couch, waiting. Lily slowly started to tap her finger on her knee while Mary was looking out of the window, afraid people might see her in there, still wearing her sweater.
Several long minutes passed before Anna walked out of the door from the back, a bit green in the face. Lily and Mary jumped up from the chairs. Lily was the first to be by Anna's side.
"Are you okay?" she asked and put an arm around her shoulder.
Anna nodded.
"Where did you get it?" Mary asked.
Anna slowly started to raise a hand but the man stepped back from the room. They all looked at her.
"Come here," he mumbled.
Anna slowly walked over to him. He pulled his wand out and pointed it at Anna's stomach and mumbled a few words. Next Anna pulled her jacket and shirt slightly up. Mary clasped her hands over her mouth as she spotted a little round piece of metal sticking out from Anna's navel.
"Wow!" Lily said shocked.
"In your stomach?" Mary whispered.
"Ain't it great?" Anna asked. "I like it."
"It doesn't hurt anymore?" the man asked.
"Nope," Anna said, grinning.
Mary slowly picked up her jaw as Anna paid for the piercing. Then they all went out again.
The first Quidditch match of the year had come. Anna stood in the dressing room with her broom over her shoulder. She had already finished dressing and was now waiting for the last ones. She was running one of her hands under her robes, feeling the piercing on her stomach. It was a nervous habit she had developed since she had gotten the piercing.
"Oh, Merlin!" Sirius suddenly exclaimed and Anna snapped out of her thoughts. "You just had to eat melted cheese and bread near my shirt, huh, Prongs?!"
Anna looked over at Sirius as he pulled his shirt out which had a big stain of yellow cheese on the middle. James just grinned at him. Sirius rolled his eyes and pulled off his shirt as Anna was about to turn around again. However, she stopped in the middle of her movement. Sirius had a very good-looking upper body like she had never seen before. It wasn't too muscular, yet enough to make him look well-trained.
Wow.
She snapped herself out of her thoughts as he saw she was looking, and she fixed her eyes on Brenda who was also looking at Sirius. Anna's neck was burning and she was glad she had not yet put it up in a ponytail so no one could see. She stole a quick look at Sirius. Luckily he had looked away from her by now and almost pulled a new shirt over his head. She sighed and turned to the mirror and slowly started to do her hair.
"Okay!" James called five minutes later. "Okay! Everyone's ready? You know what you have to do. It's Slytherin. They have to get down into the mud where they belong. Get it?" he didn't wait for an answer. "I expect each and every one of you to do your best! It's not enough to win with the small points. We have to crush them literally. This means we all have to do our best and not just hope Anna will catch the Snitch. Yolanda has to save as many goals as possible; Andrew, Brenda and I have to score as many goals as possible; Zack and Sirius have to hit as many players off their brooms and save as many as us as you can. I trust you all can do this."
Sirius got up. "We can!" he said. "And I'm ready to kick their dirty stinking arses!"
"Me too!" Anna grinned, getting up.
James grinned. "Great! Now let's go out and kick some dirty Slytherin arse!"
The rest of the team got up and followed James out at the field. They were greeted by a stadium of cheering students. Anna exchanged grins with Yolanda just before they meet the Slytherin team on the middle of the field. Anna studied them all one by one, and found that she had no idea who the other seeker was. James had told her it was a skinny boy with black hair from fifth year, but not the name.
She stopped suddenly at a boy who stood right in front of her. He had jet-black half long hair and icy grey eyes which were filled with pure superiority and arrogance. His hair and face reminded her of someone else, but she couldn't quite place it.
"Ouch!"
Someone had place an elbow between her ribs. And looking up, she found it was Sirius. He wasn't even looking at her, but at the Slytherin player.
"Pay attention, Anna," he said. "We're about to begin."
"Sorry," she mumbled. "I was just looking at hi-"
"Yeah, but don't," he said before he could finish and looked at her.
She looking into his grey eyes, which now showed coldness and anger and she suddenly realised who the Slytherin seeker reminded her about. It was Sirius. But she hadn't time to think about it. Madam Hooch blew in her whistle and all the players left the ground.
Anna was a bit behind the others but was soon much higher than any of the others. She looked down and saw James catching the quaffle. He passed it to Brenda who dodged a bludger and returned it to James. He passed it to Andrew who shot and scored.
Anna made a little somersault and then started her search for the snitch. She had barely looked for a second before she heard the sound of a bludger near her left ear. She turned just in time and dodged. It hadn't been necessary though, Sirius had shot it away from her and towards the Slytherin seeker with enormous strength. He flew away again without a word.
Anna watched him a second before she once again started her search for the snitch. Under her, a Slytherin player had just flown directly into Brenda and her nose was bleeding badly. The next second James was by her side, trying to help and Zack had shot a bludger towards the Slytherin played who now grinned along with his friends.
Suddenly, Anna spotted a golden glint just under the goalposts on the Slytherin side. She sped off towards the snitch just as she was about ten feet from it someone collided into her shoulder and she screamed. She shook her head and looked around for the player. It was a Slytherin, of course. He grinned at her and the snitch was gone. Then a bludger suddenly hit the player right on the side of his head. Next Sirius arrived on her left side.
"And that's what you getting for playing dirty!" he yelled at the played who had flown away, hand to his head. Then he turned to Anna "How are you?" he asked and looked concerned.
"Fine," she mumbled and tried to rub her shoulder but it hurt too much. Very small tears shot up in her eyes.
"You sure?"
She nodded. "I just… I'll catch the snitch soon."
He nodded. In the next second Madam Hooch approached. She looked at Sirius, angry.
"You do not attack the keeper unless the quaffle is in the scoring area!" she yelled.
Sirius looked outraged at her. "Didn't you see what he was just doing to her!? He literally flew into her!"
"Penalty to Slytherin!"
Sirius opened his mouth to protest, but Anna interrupted before he even had started.
"Cut it out, Sirius!" she said. "It won't help anything."
He closed his mouth at once and looked at her instead. "I was just trying to say it wasn't fair," he mumbled, "to you…"
"It's alright," she said. "I can defend myself."
She gave him a smile before they both flew off. Anna watched as Yolanda didn't save the shot.
"30-10 to Gryffindor!" the speaker yelled.
Just then Anna spotted the snitch once more. She set of at once, but was not glad to see the Slytherin seeker was long in front of her. Luckily Sirius had returned to thegame and sent the seeker a bludger and Anna got closer foot by foot. As he was straightening up, she past him and caught the snitch.
"YEAH!" she yelled.
Then next second, for the second time that day, someone crashed into her. This time it was the seeker. He hit her already hurt shoulder which was also of theonly arm that held onto the broom. She tightened her grip on the broom with her legs as she felt herself sliding sideways. Next, she was hanging upside down, screaming. She tried to grab the broom with her arms, but one could barely lift itself and the other was still holding the snitch. At last, she felt a pair of big hands around her right arm, pulling her up. It was Sirius and he looked even more outraged than before. But he didn't even look at Anna; he looked at the seeker.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" he hissed.
The seeker grinned. "Relax, brother," he said calm, but still grinning. "She's all right, isn't she?"
Sirius made a punch towards his brother but missed and barely stayed on his broom because Anna grabbed his robes and pulled him back up.
"Get out of my face, Regulus!" Sirius growled. "Now! Or I might kill you!"
"Fine," the brother said, coldly. "I'll leave you and your girlfriend alone."
Sirius made another attempt to get to his brother but Anna kept him back, holding onto his arm.
"Sirius, just leave him!" she said. "He's not worth it!"
"I just…" Sirius mumbled. "He's such an-"
"Idiot," Anna ended it for him. "I know."
Sirius watched Regulus fly back to his team mates and land on the ground. Anna placed her hand that held the snitch on his shoulder.
"Forget it, Sirius," she said. "We won!"
He looked up at her, smiling. "We did. Maybe we should land again."
She nodded. "Yeah."
They started to fly slowly towards the ground.
"How is your shoulder by the way?" he asked.
Anna looked down at her shoulder which stuck backwards in an awkward angle. "It hurts," she suddenly realised.
They landed and he grabbed her broom. "Here," he said. "Let me help you. And then I'll take you to the hospital wing."
"I can go there by myself," she mumbled.
"Yeah, but it was my so-called brother's fault so I'll be glad to follow you."
Anna gave him a weak smile before they entered the changing room. And about five pairs of arms suddenly were being flung around her.
"We won!" Andrew yelled.
"Oh, dear… some of you're muscles have been torn and your whole shoulder is dislocated," Madam Pomfrey mumbled.
Anna frowned. "And what does that mean?"
Sirius too, was frowning. He stood next to her holding one hand in her right hand.
"It means I can only fix the torn muscles and put your shoulder back, but you have to wear a sling the next few days to be careful."
Anna nodded. Madam Pomfrey disappeared for half a minute and came back with a yellow liquid in a little glass.
"Here, drink this," she said. "And you!" she turned to Sirius. "Make sure she stays still."
Sirius slowly took a firm hold around her stomach and pulled her into him. Anna felt his warmth against her and couldn't help but feel safe with his arms around.
"Here," Madam Pomfrey said and stuck a short and thick stick in her hands. "Bite this."
Anna frowned and did it. She felt a bit stupid, sitting with a stick in her mouth and a boy holding her still when she just had to have her shoulder put back on place. The next second her head was filled with everything but that thought. She now understood that the stick was there not to scream and Sirius' arms were there not to make her move.
Her shoulder was forced backwards with so much pain she wanted to just let her shoulder be the same way it was before. She bit hard on the stick that it hurt her teeth. But before she had even thought further, it had stopped and she could feel herself relax and Sirius did too. Madam Pomfrey took the stick from her mouth.
"That wasn't so bad was it?"
Anna shrugged, but found it hurt so she stopped. Next a sling was placed around her next and arm and she was being escorted back to the Gryffindor tower by Sirius.
Lily was sitting in a chair in the Gryffindor common room. Even though they had just won the first match of the year, it was quite boring in there. Nothing happened. Even the Marauders were quiet, but of course, she thought, Sirius was missing and he was the noisiest of them all. Suddenly Mary slumped down in the chair next to her.
"This is so boring!" she complained.
"This is your chance," Lily said.
"What do you mean?" Mary asked.
"'Start a party in the Gryffindor tower'."
"Oh, that."
Next second Anna entered the common room through the portrait hole with her left arm in a sling. Sirius was on her left side and had his arm around her shoulder, careful not to bump the left shoulder. Mary took this as her chance. She got up.
"And now that our amazing seeker and beater have returned I think it's time to party!"
A few people looked up, smiling. James almost jumped up. "I agree!" he yelled. "Let's get this party started!"
He grinned at Sirius before he summoned some bottles from the boys' dorm. Lily dropped her jaw. Mary looked excited before she got up and headed over to have a drink. Lily sighed deeply before she got up too. She walked over behind James who had just taken a glass himself. She poked him on the shoulder. He turned.
"Why, hullo, Lily," he said, smiling his charming smile.
Lily raised an eyebrow. "James you know you're not allowed to be in possession of alcoholic drinks inside the grounds – and walls – of Hogwarts."
He slowly sat his glass down at a table. He eyed her a few seconds before he slowly leaned down to her ear where he spoke his next words.
"So what are you gonna do about it, Head Girl?" She could hear his smirk.
Lily had closed her eyes for a short second and when she opened them again James had leaned slightly back and was now studying her. He was smirking slightly. At last Lily stepped a step backwards.
"I'll just be going," she mumbled and turned.
Mary had had a few drinks and was now standing in a corner, twisting her hands. She looked around, like afraid of being seen by anyone.
"Mary, what's up?"
Mary turned faster than lightning. Anna stood behind her with a glass of juice in her hand. Mary bit her lower lip.
"I'm afraid I might do something stupid," she whispered.
Anna frowned and took a step closer. "You're what?"
"Afraid I might do something stupid!"
"How much have you been drinking?" Anna asked, frowning deeper.
"A few drinks," Mary said.
She had not drank that much, but she could feel it. Anna looked at her with a strange expression.
"What kind of stupid thing would that be?"
Mary bit her lower lip again and fixed her gaze upon the three Marauders, Remus, Sirius and Peter.
"The Marauders?"
Mary groaned.
"Remus?"
"I think I might fancy him… again."
"Oh no," Anna mumbled. She remembered once at the end of their last year when Mary and Remus had spent a lot of time together. Everyone thought they were dating but they weren't, just really close friends. Mary had liked Remus a lot, though. Anna and Lily had been sure Remus liked her too, but he was just too shy to do anything about it. The crush had worn off, they had thought. Apparently they were wrong.
Mary rubbed her face. "This is not good."
"When did this happen?" Anna asked.
"I don't know!" Mary groaned. "While we were dancing I think."
Anna sighed. "Then go talk to him."
"No! Then he'll know."
Anna raised an eyebrow. "How stupid are you? You're friends. Friends talk! I'll go get the two others away."
Before Mary could say another word Anna was gone. She stood there talking for half a minute before she left with Sirius and Peter behind her. Mary nodded to herself and headed towards Remus who had now sat down in a couch alone. He looked up as she stopped in front of him.
"Hi," she mumbled.
He smiled. "Hey Mary. Why don't you sit down?"
She nodded and slowly sat down next to him. Obvious of her every movement, she looked at him.
"Have you been drinking?" he asked at once.
She looked away and nodded. "A very little."
"You've never drank before, have you?" he said with a smile. He knew her too well.
She shook her head. "Nope…"
"Not done anything stupid yet? Please say no."
"No…" she said with a smile. "But my bet is an hour yet."
He grinned. "Don't worry. You're too smart to do something very stupid. And you don't seem to have drank that much."
"I haven't," she said. "But again, it's the first time I have ever drunken and I'm trying to be careful."
He grinned. "It can't be as stupid as that fifth year who has already kissed three girls."
"Naah… Okay not that stupid."
Suddenly he jumped up. He stretched out his hand at her. She frowned.
"What?"
"Listen!" he said.
She did. "I can only hear music," she said.
"Exactly! Dance with me."
"Remus, you know I can't dance."
"No. I know you can," he said and grabbed her hands without further hesitation. "Just remember the steps."
"The one we last practised?" she asked.
He nodded and grabbed her around the waist. She got nervous. They had only practiced the last dance two times and it was really fast, but fitted the music. He smiled slyly, raising an eyebrow at her. She took his other hand and he pressed her into his body and she could feel the warmth of him.
Lily sat down heavily into a chair near the fireplace. Her heart was still racing. What had he done to her? James had never before been able to make her nervous. Well, today that had changed. She sighed and looked around. Mary was standing in a corner alone and Anna was approaching her. Lily sighed once more and slowly fell backwards on the couch. But a problem turned up. Someone who hadn't been there the second before was now sitting there with Lily's head in his or her lap. Lily opened her eyes just to stare through a pair of glasses and into two warm hazel colored eyes.
"Listen, Lily," James grinned, "if you want to have your head there, I think we should move up to the boys' dorm and get it done up there."
Lily scowled and sat up quicker than possible. "Dream on, James."
He grinned. "You know I'm just kidding, right?"
"Sure, whatever."
"So what did you think of the game?" he asked, trying to change subject.
"It was fine," Lily mumbled. "You're a good flyer."
He smiled wide. "Thanks."
Then one of those strange things happened. After it, Lily wasn't sure if it was because she wanted him to help her, or just anyone and he just happened to be there. The words had escaped before she could even stop them.
"Teach me how to."
James looked utterly shocked by her words and didn't speak. She suddenly clasped her hands up in front of her mouth. It had to be the alcohol that had its influence on her. Yet again, it couldn't be that bad to have him teach her. Could it? Again, the alcohol was speaking, Lily told herself.
At last James nodded slowly. "Sure. Why not?"
Lily jumped up. "Thanks," she mumbled and stormed away.
She ran up the stairs to the girls' dorm and stayed there for more than half an hour, rethinking what had just happened. At last she decided to face the common room again. When she slowly walked down the stairs she could hear some of the younger students head to their dorms. She stepped down form the staircase and looked around. Only the older students were up. Then her eyes caught something out near the dance floor, and she almost screamed.
Mary had no idea how it had happened, but the music had slowed down and she was still dancing with Remus. Very close, she couldn't help but think. She had her head on his shoulder, breathing in the nice scent of him.
Mary removed her head and studied Remus a bit. He looked so solemn and sweet she couldn't help but just like him even more. She barely noticed they had moved away from the dance floor and that he had now almost cornered her in a corner near the boys' dorm.
"Hassomeone ever told you your eyes look very cute when you're nervous?" he asked.
She shook her head, suddenly feeling the wall against her back. "I guess no one has ever noticed."
He smiled. "I have. And they've looked like that all night."
"Yeah… I guess they have," she mumbled.
"See," he grinned slightly. "There it is again."
Mary couldn't help but being nervous. Remus was standing closer to her than he had all night and was now literally breathing in her the mouth. Sighing almost noticeable, she moved her head forward and lightly touched his lips with hers.