Chapter 73: Miss You Always
"How about this denim skirt??" Arabella suggested, pulling out a mini denim skirt in the pile of clothes in the middle of the sixth-year girls' dormitory.
"Looks good." Lily agreed. "That skirt is mine, right??"
"You said it look good because it's yours." Samantha teased good-naturedly.
"I really forgot all about the skirt until now that you mention it." Lily defended herself.
"That's really funny. You used to wear it so often in the past." Joey added.
"That was the past. It's such a small piece of clothing."
"That's why you call this mini-skirt, my dear." Stefanie laughed.
"Okok, anyway this skirt is a good idea." Lily tried to divert the topic off.
"I don't wear mini-skirts." Joey admitted. "I don't think my legs look nice."
"Jo, don't worry, I think you look gorgeous in mini-skirts." Lily said truthfully.
"It seems like a pretty good idea." Stefanie added. "Besides it is not entire a mini skirt, more like culottes." Samantha held the mini-skirt up showing the shorts beneath the exterior skirt cutting.
"Let's settle for this then." Arabella suggested and the girls agreed.
"Majority wins." Joey admitted defeat in a joking manner.
"Let's duplicate the skirt to fit us." Stefanie added enthusiastically, preparing the duplication and altering charm and fetching her wand from her bedside table.
"What about the top??" Lily dug around the heap of clothing in front of her. The five girls had emptied their trunk magically and all their clothes were heaped in the center of their dormitory.
"This one??" Samantha pulled out a white spaghetti strapped top from the bottom.
"Spaghetti top and mini skirt. Isn't it a bit too overly revealing??" Stefanie voiced out from the corner where she was duplicating the denim mini skirts.
"How about a tee shirt??" Joey asked, holding a midriff baring short sleeve white top.
"Too casual looking." Samantha remarked.
"What about something like a turtleneck??" Lily pulled out a long sleeve white turtleneck.
"This turtleneck look better with a leather mini skirt." Arabella commented.
"So am I going to change it to black leather mini or what??" Stefanie stopped the duplication charm and turned over to check out the top the others were deciding upon.
"Who's with this turtle neck and leather skirt??" Joey asked.
"Me." Lily agreed instantly.
"Me too." Arabella added.
"Me three." Stefanie agreed. "Looks like I gotta change the texture. Who know the texture-changing charm??"
"It is somewhere in our charm book." Samantha accioed her book over, and flipped through to search for the charm.
"So we settle for white turtleneck and black leather skirt??" Lily asked the four other girls.
"Yes." Joey answered and then magicked the remaining clothes back to their respective trunks.
"I help you with the charm." Lily volunteered and took her own copy of the textbook and searched for the charm they needed.
"Let's duplicate the tops first." Joey fetched her wand and started duplicating the white turtleneck with Stefanie.
This is one thing I'm going to miss doing so much. Arabella thought as she looked around her roommates who were busy doing the magic, which she could not perform anymore. I'll miss them so much. She studied her friends closely as she sat at the edge of her bed. I'll live with no regrets knowing friends like them. They had told Samantha and Joey about Arabella's loss of powers but skipped some of the details.
"Bell."
Celeste. An old friend. Arabella thought about her best friend in the childhood times before she came to Hogwarts.
"Arabella??"
Wonder how is she doing?? Maybe I can attend a muggle school with her. That is, if I still get to meet her.
"ARABELLA FIGG??"
"Huh?? What??" Arabella got out from the trance she was in.
"Finally you're back." Lily teased.
"What were you thinking of??" Stefanie asked.
"Nothing in particular. Just remembered a childhood friend."
"We decide on these matching leather boots."
"Looks good." Arabella agreed. The pair of knee-high heeled leather boots, which belonged to Joey, seemed to match their outfit pretty well.
"Let's get change. It's nearly five." Joey pointed out. The girls had stayed up the whole night to do girls' stuffs. They chatted for three hours and then began on their makeover.
"Jo, you can be sure most of the population will be up at around nine." Samantha pointed out.
"We can even take a nap in the meanwhile." Lily suggested.
"NO!!" The four other girls chorused. Everyone knew it was difficult to drag Lily out of bed especially in the morning.
"Your reaction doesn't have to be so big." Lily commented.
"You better not sleep." Samantha threatened in a joking manner.
"I'll try not to. I think I might have master the art of sleeping standing up."
"I'm so against pranks on Sunday mornings." James complained as the Marauders gathered their props and about to head towards the Slytherin tower.
"It's one of the best time as most of the student won't be up so early." Remus commented as he wiped his face with his towel.
"Prongs, you better do some washing up." Sirius shoved James rather violently into their shared bathroom.
"I know how to walk." James commented sleepily and started splashing his face with water. "This is not like the biggest prank in the century or anything."
"It's nothing great but it's our main form of entertainment." Peter voiced out.
"It's our only form of entertainment." Sirius pointed out.
"Not really, I still have Stef." Remus pointed at the ceiling above his bed whereby a muggle painting of Stefanie was looking down at him.
"And James have Lily, what about us??" Sirius commented and put his arm around Peter.
"I do have some girlfriends here and there." Peter defended.
"I know. But that two traitors already have a wife-to-be." Sirius exclaimed dramatically.
"Mind you, it's six in the morning. Can you say something more sensible??" Remus shook his head and fell back onto his bed.
"I'm merely stating the facts." Sirius defended. "Prongsie!! Are you done??"
"My instinct tell me that he's fast asleep on the toilet bowl again." Remus laughed and headed over to their bathroom.
"I'm with you for that." Sirius followed.
"Aha, gotcha. I'm all ready to go." James said in an unusual bright tone and walked out of the bathroom looking distinctively refreshed.
"Huh??" The three Marauders looked at James after the five-minute transformation in the bathroom.
"Wormtail, did you cast some spell on him without us knowing??" Remus said teasingly.
"I didn't do anything."
"Threotically, our Snivellus and Malfoy should be really sweet later." Sirius announced in a professional tone.
"Nothing too much. Just some of those mushy songs that's all." James said nonchalantly and went back into his bed, drifting of to dreamland once again.
"At least we made sure they sing it during breakfast for Bell." Sirius argued.
"Okok, everything is for your Arabella. I'm going to sleep." Remus said and went back to his bed.
"Why won't anyone listen to me talk??" Sirius exclaimed dramatically.
"Wormtail, I suggest you better get some sleep now." Remus called out from his bed.
"Looking good!!" Lily commented. The five girls were now standing in front of the full-length mirror, taking turns to admire themselves in front.
"What gorgeous beauties you all are." The mirror complimented.
"Thanks." The five girls chorused. The five of them, once again, looked similar but yet different in a sense.
"Let's hit the Great Hall." Samantha said enthusiastically.
"We're still early. We can leave in ten more minutes where most of the population are thee first."
"Then what can we do in the meanwhile??"
"Hmm.."
"Hang out in the common room??"
"Slowly make our way to the Great Hall??"
"Let's just make our way there, who knows there might just be delays along the way??" Stefanie said casually.
"Are you suggesting something we don't know??"
"I used to call you my girl." Lucius Malfoy jumped onto the Slytherin table and started singing. Vaness Crabbe and Gordan Goyle started humming the melody Miss You Like Crazy loudly. The two, together with Lucius and Severus, all jumped onto the table suddenly, much to the fellow Slytherins surprise.
"I used to call you my friend." Severus sang in an unusual gentle voice.
"I used to call you the love." Lucius continued. Vaness and Gordan were still humming happily. The four of them were oblivious to the stares given by their fellow schoolmates.
"The love that I never had."
"When I think of you."
"I don't know what to do."
"When will I see you again??"
"Don't you think they sang well??" James asked his fellow Marauders.
"Since they start singing, that means the girls are within the proximity." Remus reminded them.
"I miss you like crazy, even more than words can say. I miss you like crazy, every minute of every day. Bell, I'm so down when your love is not around. I miss you, miss you, miss you, I miss you like crazy." Lucius and Severus sang in such perfect harmony that no one thought was possible. They were singing as though they were professional singers with so much passion in their expression and voice.
"What are those Slytherins doing??" Joey asked in surprised.
"You're all that I want." Lucius continued to sing with a strange form of deep passion.
"They look like they're singing." Lily gave the Slytherins a look and ignored them.
"You're all that I need." Severus continued harmoniously after Lucius.
"They sound pretty good actually." Samantha remarked.
"Can't you see how I feel??" Lucius sang after Severus.
"Their voices are definitely modified." Stefanie laughed.
"Can't you see that my pain is so real??"
"I thought I heard your name inside the lyrics." Samantha pointed out.
"When I think of you."
"I thought I heard that. At least I'm not the only one." Arabella commented with a laugh and the five girls moved towards the Gryffindor table.
"I don't know what to do."
"Looks like no one is going to notice us since the singing Slytherins are definitely captivating." Lily laughed, along with the rest of the population because the scene was pretty comical.
"When will I see you again??"
"Let's get down to breakfast." Stefanie tried to stifle her laughter a little. The Slytherin foursome continued singing their song all the way, gaining the total concentration of both the student and teacher population in that morning.
"I thought I heard your name again." Stefanie laughed as she helped herself with the scrambled eggs.
"It's so uncomfortable wearing mini-skirts." Lily complained. "Must really sit in such lady-like manner."
"Lils, you're a lady so you gotta learn to be more lady-like." Samantha reminded Lily good-naturedly.
"Yes, mum." Lily sat upright immediately; legs crossed, and started eating in a very feminine manner.
The Slytherins' voices can be heard from the background since Gryffindor and Slytherin tables were at both ends of the Great Hall.
"You can stop that now. It's so unnatural." Arabella laughed.
The four Slytherins finished their first debut and jumped off the table in a stylish manner and walked towards the Gryffindor table confidently. All eyes were on the foursome except for five particular Gryffindors who were too engrossed in their own private conversation.
"It's early in the morning." Lucius started. Vaness and Gordan were humming another song, which sounded like Wonderful Tonight.
"She's wondering what clothes to wear." Severus continued. It was indeed strange that Lucius and Severus could sound so good singing together.
"She puts on her make up." The four Slytherins were now surrounding Arabella, singing their song to her.
"And brushes her long brown hair."
"What's going on??" Arabella asked the Slytherins. Instead of responding, they sang even more fervently to her.
"Do I look alright??" Lucius sang to Arabella and then turned to face Severus.
"And I say yes, you look wonderful today." Severus replied to Lucius and then turned to face Arabella.
Her four friends were now too busy laughing at the scene whereby four Slytherins were singing to a Gryffindor to be helping her to solve what was going on. Obviously the rest of the hall was laughing at them as well, because it was indeed a hilarious scene at the Great Hall on a weekend morning.
"We go for breakfast." Lucius continued to sing along with the humming from Vaness and Gordan.
"And everyone turns to see."
"This beautiful lady."
"That sat in front of me."
"And then she asks me." Lucius looked at Arabella with such intense passion that gave her shivers to her spine.
"Do you feel alright??" Severus sang out and looked into Arabella's midnight blue eyes.
"And I say yes, I feel wonderful today." Lucius replied to Severus and the two guys held their hands together and reached out to hold Arabella's hands with their other free hand. Arabella obviously rejected the offer and the two guys held each other hand instead.
"Malfoy and Snivellus look so gay holding hands." James laughed so hard that his hands were slamming the table.
"I never knew the two are so in love with each other." Sirius was holding his stomach because he was laughing so hard that gave him stitch. The rest of the Great Hall was obvious in such laughing conditions that they could not even start eating their breakfast.
"Thankfully we modify their voice to make them sound so enchanting." Peter commented, pausing his laughter just to say something.
"Definitely, otherwise the rest would be throwing food at them to make them stop." Remus was laughing so hard that he was holding onto the bench for support.
After three songs, the laughter died down and the Slytherins did not appeared to be as hilarious as they were in the beginning. Their voices continued to loom the entire Great Hall, supplying the inhabitants of the Great Hall with pleasant music to start their day with. Needless to say, the Slytherins had continued to sing in front of Arabella with all the love songs, one after another.
"Oceans apart day after day."
"Miss Figg, it's about time." Professor McGonagall who appeared to be trying very hard to keep a straight face, came over to the five girls as they tried to eat their breakfast.
"And I slowly go insane."
"So soon." Arabella commented.
"I hear your voice now and then."
"That's right." She replied with a tinge of sadness.
"But it doesn't stop the pain."
"Alright then." Arabella got up from her seat and followed Professor McGonagall. Her four friends-cum-roommates as well as the four singing Slytherins followed as well.
"They're leaving." Remus told the Marauders.
"If I see you next to never."
"Let's go then." Sirius instructed and the rest of the Marauders followed up with the girls.
"How can I say forever??"
"It's pretty cool with a personal band singing for you." James told the group as they followed behind Professor McGonagall, the five girls, and the four singing Slytherins.
"Wherever you go, whatever you do. I will be right here waiting for you. Whatever it takes, or how my heart breaks, I will be right here waiting for you."
"I can't imagine." Severus sang. The four of them were singing what it felt like their twentieth song, Drowning.
"I miss you so much!!" Arabella hugged Lily tightly. She was hugging her five roommates one after another. Their eyes were rather teary since the five girls had grown very close after six years of friendship.
"Life without your presence."
"And even forever."
"Don't seem like long enough."
"Thank you Professor." Arabella turned to give Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall a quick and grateful hug.
"Coz everytime I breathe I take you in."
"Do take care of yourself." Professor McGonagall replied.
"And my heart beats again."
"We'll meet again soon enough." Dumbledore said with a wink.
"Bell, I can't help it."
"Thanks guys for everything." Arabella told the Marauders and gave each of them a quick hug, except for Sirius, whom was the longest.
"You keep me drowning in your presence."
"I'll miss you." Sirius whispered to Arabella.
"And everytime I try to rise above."
"I know you guys instigated the four of them." Arabella said with a smile and shot the four Slytherins a look. "And thanks for the party, and everything else."
"I'm swept away by you."
"Don't mention it. It's our pleasure." James replied with a chuckle.
"Bell, I can't help it."
"Miss Figg, it's time to go." Professor McGonagall repeated once again. Arabella turned and followed her up the horseless carriage.
"You keep me drowning in your presence." It was like their finale line before the horseless carriage took Arabella and Professor McGonagall away from Hogwarts.