A Twin in Mine Shadow
Chapter 3 An Agonising Tutor
On her way to Transfiguration, Lizzie walked as slowly as her legs could carry her. Her day had been bad so far, and she did not want to make it worse by bumping into Sirius Black or anyone from his gang. She felt she had the worse luck in the world.
There were only a few more corridors left to pass, all-the-while she wondered why she even bothered going to Transfiguration. It was one of the many classes in which she would sit on her own, due to her lack of popularity and lack of friends in her own house. She sometimes wondered why she had been put into Gryffindor. The sorting hat had said she was brave, but Lizzie knew it had made a mistake. On countless occasions she had visited the Headmaster's office, each time with a different excuse, on why she should transfer to Slytherin, but he had never considered the offers. Not once.
She finally tapped on the grand mahogany doors of her next class, and without permission she burst in.
"Sorry I'm late professor," she said without stopping as she went to her seat. But before she got there, she saw two people sitting at the table she usually shared alone.
"As you can see Miss Potter, there has been a new seating plan for this lesson. Your seat is now beside Miss Evans, and that's two points from Gryffindor for being late without an excuse," McGonnagall's taunting voice called to her. Lizzie knew she was now expected to give an excuse, but ignored the fact as she made her way to the front of the classroom in a huff.
"How come she's the one that gets to sit beside Evans," Lizzie heard her brother groan at Lupin on her way. Merlin knew she would give anything to move away. She was not particularly fond of mudbloods.
Once she had fallen into her chair and thrust her book out of her bag, she turned to look at her new neighbour. As usual, Evans had her head deep in her book, already a few thirty pages ahead of what was written on the board.
"Today you will be working in pairs, and since you are an even number threesomes there will be no need to do it in threesomes," McGonnagall's voice boomed.
A few people snorted at the word 'threesome', as James said aloud: "I wasn't thinking about being in a threesome anyway," which sent his gang snickering again.
"That's quite enough Mr Potter. Each of you will perform a transfiguring spell to try to change the golden goblet into a golden fork. It is a pretty simple spell, because we're only revising what you have done so far to get you ready for your OWL's. You may begin."
At once a rush of conversation plagued the silent atmosphere, as everyone began to move and rush about the room. Lizzie got up from her seat, watching as Lily Evans brought two goblets from the supplies table. She set them on the table and began, "Do you want to go first or should I?"
Lizzie only shrugged and said, "no point in me wasting my time, why don't you just go."
Lily set down her goblet, then with a flick of her wand she muttered the incantation and instantly the goblet turned into a silver fork. Apparently, Lizzie was not the only other person that saw this, as she heard McGonnagall below, "Five points to Gryffindor for Miss Evans' advanced magic."
'Show off,' Lizzie thought to herself as others stared in awe.
"Your turn," Lily replied in a sickeningly sweet tone.
"Remember not to flick it too much," she added in her bossy manner.
"I can read the board," Lizzie muttered as she tried to concentrate. But as soon as she could say the incantation someone banged into her arm, making her trip onto the table. She turned to eye what had pushed her, not surprised when she saw a familiar messy head standing in her place.
"So Evans, I'm sure you've heard about the Ball that's coming up…" he began to trail off.
"James, you're in my place," Lizzie stated from behind him, which he decided to ignore completely.
"As you know, it's a costume Ball so I was thinking we should go as Romeo and Juliet, you know the muggle fairytale? Or we could go as anyone else you want."
But Lizzie was already fed up with his note today, and though she tried hard to control her anger, she could not prevent herself from pushing him with all her might, sending James flying into the table behind them.
At once loud laughter sprang from everyone in the classroom, even from Lily Evans who was nearly close to tears, she was laughing so hard.
"GO Lizzie," a few geeks behind her shouted, as James started to laugh at himself. He then made his way to the middle of the class and gave a short bow, which eventually silenced the laughter.
'Typical James. Always making it seem like he's the one playing the prank.'
But James did not take his leave, and instead trotted over to the space by Lily and Lizzie.
"You know, you're so funny Lizzie, I think you might have better luck next time in attempting to hurt me." James then turned to eye Lily, his hand immediately flying towards his hair.
"And as for you Evans, is eight o'clock a good time for you?" He asked her smugly, awaiting her answer with flirty gestures and what Lizzie thought was pathetic eye contact.
"I don't remember accepting your offer Potter, which is probably because you haven't even asked me yet. If you assume that you can handle me like you own me, then you can think again. That is, if you can find a brain to think for you," Lily replied angrily, which immediately wiped the smirk off James' face. But he quickly hid his disappointment, making him look like he accepted her denial.
"Awwe, was Jamesie just dumped in front of the whole class for the first time," Lizzie cooed in a sarcastic manner as he walked away.
"Stuff it, BITCH," James shouted back at her.
"That's a detention for you tonight, Mr Potter, for use of inappropriate language in the lesson," Professor McGonnagall's voice bellowed.
Lizzie watched James' priceless face, shooting rude gestures at him with her fingers behind Lily's back.
She was soon interrupted from her moment of bliss, by the sound of the bell that signalled the end of Transfiguration. Lizzie turned to pack her things away, and was about to leave when a voice to her right said, "Thanks Lizzie." She turned towards the blushing redhead and casually uttered 'no problem.' This made Lily smile, which returned the grin back to Lizzie's face.
'Maybe mudbloods aren't so bad after all.'
"Miss Potter, a word if you will please." Lizzie turned back round from where she was standing in the doorway, and grudgingly walked over to McGonnagall's desk. She eyed the scarlet book in the teacher's hand, wondering whether if this was about being late or pushing James.
"Miss Potter, I am quite concerned about your grades in Transfiguration throughout the past couple of years. It seems you have been gradually failing every exam, so I think you may need quite a bit more help for your OWL's."
Lizzie shrugged casually, thinking nothing important of the matter. She already knew she was going to fail, she had given up trying long ago when she had found she could not improve.
"Have you tried seeking help from any of the Prefects, Miss Potter?" McGonnagall questioned.
Lizzie shook her head in reply. She was quite anxious to get the talk over with, for she was being forced to waste valuable time from her lunch.
"Well that's not good enough, I'm afraid. However, it is a rule that students with an average grade of below 45 receive a tutor for a term. I'm afraid I will have not choice Miss Potter."
"But you can't do that! What difference is a tutor gonna make? I'll revise a bit more for my OWL's, that's all!" Lizzie panted. There was no way she was going to get a tutor to help her. She despised and made fun of every single Prefect the school had, so being tutored by them would just be taking it too far.
"I'm sorry Miss Potter, but the rules were not set by me. I would normally assign you a Gryffindor Prefect, but since they have all been assigned to different people, it will have to be someone else," she said as she turned the page of the students' grades. But Lizzie had a sudden idea.
"What about other houses, Professor? I know a lot of smart people in Slytherin that would be willing to tutor me for Transfiguration." That was not entirely true. Lizzie was thinking about a certain Malfoy, who had the brains in nearly every subject. The rest of her friends were all no-brainers like her, because they either had enough money or quite a lot of inheritance, so there really was no point reading hard.
"I'm afraid Mr Malfoy's grades in Transfiguration are not as satisfactory as you may think either," the professor replied.
'Darn it! The old bag is seeing right through me.'
"And besides," she continued, " meeting places and tutoring with the other houses would be harder to arrange. So it will have to be someone in your own house."
She turned back a few pages and from what Lizzie could see, she was looking at the average marks for the Gryffindors in her year, last year.
"Well, from what I can see the best marks are Miss Evans'. However, she has already been assigned to tutor someone in the year below. The next person is your brother, but I somehow doubt that he would be a wise choice."
'Thank Merlin! She nearly gave me a heart attack when she said 'James.' Mind you, it is quite a disgusting word anyway.'
(A/N: no offence to any James' out there!)McGonnagall's eyes were still scanning up and down the page with her pointy glasses. In a matter of seconds however, Lizzie watched the corners of her mouth rise as she looked up from her book.
"I think I have found the right tutor for you, Miss Potter. He does not try too much, but his marks on various exams are quite astounding, if I may say so myself."
' "He?" Cool, maybe a boy won't be so bad for a tutor. I've not had a boyfriend in Merlin knows how long. Ooh, tutor sessions would also be the perfect place to, -'"Yes, I'm positive that Mr Black will be able to help you raise your grades."
"WHAT! Oh wait, that is a good one professor." Lizzie laughed on for a bit, imagining Sirius Black forcing her to do work from the book, while he threw bits of wet parchment into her ponytail. Once she finished laughing and the picture in her head had faded away, she looked back at her professor to find her wearing a stern expression, her hands resting patiently on her hips.
Lizzie gulped.
"You weren't joking were you?"
"I don't believe I was, Miss Potter. So it's all set. I will have a chat with Mr Black shortly after lunch, and I'll inform you both of when and where to meet tomorrow morning. You are dismissed Miss Potter."
But Lizzie stood rooted to the spot, the rumbling in her tummy all forgotten as she took in the situation.
"Professor you can't be serious! He'll KILL me, I know he will! You can just sit back thinking nothing will happen, and before you know it, it'll be too late." She stopped talking to see if McGonnagall was going to say anything, but she found the silence too threatening.
"PROFESSOR YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" Lizzie shouted with all her might. She was sweating madly now, and her stomach was making her feel sick. Professor McGonnagall only stood there until Lizzie had finished, and then she guided her distressed student towards the large mahogany doors.
"Maybe you should go to the Great Hall, I think you're hunger is the cause of your overreaction. I'll arrange for you to have the rest of the day off, and in the meantime Miss Potter, I expect you to be getting used to meeting with Mr Black every week for the next term. Off you go now." Except that she did not allow Lizzie to walk out, but more like pushed her out of the classroom and slammed the door hard. Traumatised, Lizzie walked at a slow pace to the Great Hall, her dread growing greater by the minute.
Once she got there, she made her way towards the end of the Gryffindor table, gently sitting in the chair and resting her head on her hands.
"Lizzie, are you alright? You must be feeling really bad because you haven't touched a thing."
Lizzie slowly brought her head up to look at Narcissa, who had come all the way over from the Slytherin table to bring some liquorice pasties.
"My head hurts and I feel sick. Oh yeah, and did I mention that Sirius Black is going to be my tutor for the rest of the term?" Lizzie added sarcastically.
Narcissa's eyes widened immediately, as she quickly took a seat beside Lizzie.
"You poor thing! How could your professor do this to you?" Narcissa soothed as she affectionately patted Lizzie's shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, Lizzie saw a few of her Slytherin friends watching with their mouths open. She then cast a glance at her enemy, who was seating near the other end of the table, his arm resting around his new 'blonde-girlfriend-for-the-day.'
"Shouldn't assholes be the ones learning, instead of tutoring? "Narcissa stated bitterly.
"Well according to my professor, apparently I am even dumber than the assholes over there," Lizzie replied with the same bitterness.
Narcissa's eyes suddenly widened as she had a sudden idea.
"I know what we can do Lizzie! You see I have perfect blackmail on Sirius. It's something he told Andromeda that I overheard. I'll warn him not to be mean to you, or his mother would know his secret." Lizzie looked at her friend again, and then miserably uttered:
"There's no point Cissa. And besides, if he's not my tutor then it will be another one of his pathetic friends. I wouldn't really mind if this had happened yesterday, but it's just that he thinks I want to shag him that makes everything worse."
Narcissa's eyes widened in shock.
"WHAT!"
"Oh it's a long story. I'll tell you some other time probably." Lizzie shrugged at her, then outstretched her hand to grab a plate and cut off a small part of the mince pie.
"Ooh, there's my head of house looking at me. I think I should go Lizzie. I'll leave these pasties with you, I'm sure you'll know perfectly well where to store them.
Lizzie grinned at her friend, as Narcissa stood up and bid her goodbye. She watched Cissa make her way back to her seat, where Lucius opened his mouth to taunt her about something. Lizzie shifted her gaze away and ate the rest of her mince pie, feeling her hunger come back to her. She helped her self to some chips, but found there was no ketchup. She scanned the rest of the long table, spotting a little red tub by her brother's plate. She dreadingly got up and made her way towards her enemies of five years.
"Ooh, well if it isn't the manslag itself. Oh no, don't look at me, my glasses might break," James feigned in mock horror, clutching his eyes as though his life depended on it. Remus and Peter started laughing, but Sirius was too busy sticking his tong down his bimbo's throat.
"Shut up, dork. Besides, I thought you might be used to your glasses breaking, for the amount of times you stare into the mirror everyday," Lizzie retorted as she made a grab for the ketchup.
She was about to walk away when she heard a loud snort, and turned to find Sirius had drooled over his girlfriend from laughter.
"Ugh, that's rough, man," James said, eyeing the saliva with disgust.
"I'll go get a napkin," the blonde said as she got up from his lap and made her way away from them, not missing the opportunity to shoot Lizzie an ugly glare.
But before she could get away, Lizzie stuck her foot out which made the other girl trip.
"Oops, there goes my foot," Lizzie mocked as the girl just flicked her hair at her.
James laughed whereas Sirius retorted:
"Don't get too jealous Lizzie. I'm sure your time will come soon." His tone was meant to be husky, but it just made her insides twirl. She eyed him as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, then replied:
"In your sad little wet dreams, Black." She quickly walked away, but not quick enough to dodge the sounds of, "I love you too baby" and "No need to be ashamed of your feelings anymore."When she got back to her seat she shrivelled in disgust, watching as a few Ravenclaws came over and Sirius told them about her supposed 'crush' on him. They were soon all staring at her with wide smirks, obviously thinking she was as cheap as any whore in Knockturn Alley.
'James is sooo dead.'
xxXXXxXXXxx
Another chappy up, hope you liked it. If you've got any ideas for the plot, feel free to state them in yur review. Here's a bunch of thanx to my reviewers:
Saphiretear glad you like Lizzie. I know she's a marry sue but I try not to overdo it, REALLY I DO!!!
Sorry, didn't mean to go psycho. Blame my Twirl bar.
Sweet 16 Movie Buff A very persuading review, thank you for your comment! Oh, and cool penname by the way!
Messed-up-Madness I see you like Sirius Black too. Well, in truth he does really need to be set up with someone, I mean he can't leave that fortune lying around for nothing! Oh, and thanx for the review. Lol.