ARE YOU CRAZY?!
IN HOW MANY WAYS CAN I ANSWER YES TO THAT?
Hey, it's Chapter Three as promised. Sorry, I'm a little drained right now so I won't be going on about my life for the moment. Maybe for the next chapter. Hmmm…
But anyway, here goes chapter three. Hope you enjoy reading and kindly leave a review afterwards.
So, since Book 6 has been released and obviously I've started Oblivious before Book 5 and then started Curtain Calls right where Oblivious finished, there would be inconsistencies with the present canon. But, anyway, if you're a sport about it… you'll realize it's fanfiction, right? And by the way, JK Rowling – only the richest author in the magical land! – she's the one who owns Harry Potter. Just borrowing some characters for the story.
don't be surprised if i love you for all that you are... i couldn't help it... it's all your fault... -- alanis morissette, "head over feet"
~*~*~*~
CHAPTER THREE: Missing Bolts
Remus stared at the notebook as if somehow, he would be able to know what was inside it. He was back at the library, drumming his fingers restlessly on the table, hoping that the girl from that morning would come looking for her lost belonging. Aside from deliberating with himself if he would take a peek inside it or not, he was also studying – trying very very hard to concentrate on his N.E.W.T.s revisions – something Lily ought to have been doing if she wasn't 'shut out' by James Potter and then swept off by Adrian somewhere in the castle grounds.
He was about to pick up the notebook – decided that gazing at it from six inches from his face would make a difference – when it came flying out of his reach all of a sudden… He was sure that if he thought this thing was also moving by itself (like what he thought of Kiara's butter-trick at breakfast), he would voluntarily check himself in at the Hospital Wing.
"Hey… what is this?"
Fortunate for his questionable sanity, it was actually Sirius who grabbed the notebook and started checking out the covers. Sirius moved a bit distant from Remus so as to prevent him from taking it back.
"Oh, bloody hell," Remus sighed. "What are you doing here?" He stood up and extended his palm towards Sirius, then said in the lamest possible tone, "Give it back, you maniac."
Sirius chuckled as he looked at the back of the notebook. Then he raised an eyebrow flashing an exaggerated look of confusion. "This isn't yours…"
"It's mine," Remus insisted, rolling his eyes. His hand was still ready to receive back what his friend just took.
"It has a flower drawn at the back of it," Sirius said, flashing the back of the notebook. Indeed, there was a lone tulip drawn in charcoal at the back. "You're telling me it's yours?"
Sirius smiled mischievously.
Remus looked him in the eye, then at the notebook. How to snatch it back from Sirius when he could pounce around the library like the big black dog of an Animagus he was?
But apparently, being Remus' friend meant that Sirius had a very good idea what Remus was thinking about. Slowly, he tried to pull the notebook behind his back. Then, in another second…
Remus lunged across the gap and playfully twisted Sirius' arm around and then grabbed the notebook successfully.
"Fine," Sirius muttered when Remus got hold of the notebook. He crossed his arms and looked at Remus with feigned offense. "Be a flower-loving mad doggie. It's kinda gay if you ask me," he said, with a shrug.
"No one's asking you," came Remus' reply then he paused and looked at Sirius with narrowing eyes. This wasn't normal. "What are you doing here anyway? The Quidditch field's that way," he said, pointing his thumb to the window near them – that was overseeing the pitch.
Sirius turned to the window and then leaned over. His hands were spread across the sill looking towards the direction of the Quidditch field. He looked like someone who just woke up in the morning trying to catch some of that fresh air – only, he wasn't in his room and it definitely wasn't morning.
"That's why I'm here," Sirius replied casually, like it was something he did everyday.
Remus shook his head. "You make no sense. Well, that makes sense, anyway," he said. Then Sirius turned to him with a somehow confused look. "That you make no sense," he concluded and smiled irritatingly wide.
Sirius mouthed a 'ha ha' and before turning back to the window, told, "Well, at least I have a girlfriend."
Remus snorted. "That's the most childish comeback I've ever heard," he said, as he went back to his table.
"While you draw flowers at the back of your notebooks," Sirius retaliated without taking his eyes off the open window.
"Still a big mystery what Toni particularly saw in you."
"I'm devilishly good looking. Now, drop it."
"She's not that shallow… unfortunately for you," Remus said. "So, there must be something in your head that she likes." But in an instant, a realization dawned on him. He turned at Sirius again and chuckled. "Aah… you're watching out for that Eric guy," he said, as he stood up and walked towards Sirius. "You're jealous."
"No."
"Threatened."
"That's the same thing. And no, I'm not," Sirius insisted, trying to sound as dignified as possible. "Why would I be jealous of someone so pathologically vain?" Then, tossing his hair like a girl he continued and started mocking, "I'm Eric. I'm so beautiful. Hug me. Kiss me. Marry me."
Remus' smile stretched from ear to ear. This was the first time he saw Sirius being overly protective of a girl. "Well, yeah, you're not jealous. You're insanely insecure," he said matter-of-factly. "You are aware that if she finds out that you're spying on her, you're going to meet your end, right?"
But instead of defending himself, surprisingly, Sirius agreed without batting an eye. "Kill me and behead me, yeah," he said then he turned his eyes off the field and to Remus. "But I'm not spying." There was the denial. "I'm merely…" he stretched his hand out as if beholding the view before him, "…overlooking the scenery." And just then, he conjured a pair of Omnioculars from his robe pocket.
A snigger escaped Remus. "With that?" He pointed at the magical telescopes Sirius was now using to 'overlook' the scenery. He shook his head when Sirius shushed him; and then turned to go back to his table. But not even halfway to his destination (which was only a few steps from the window, by the way), Remus heard fast footfalls and sure it was, Sirius grabbed the notebook from the table and hurriedly opened it to any page.
"Full moon?!" He exclaimed before the people in the library shushed him.
Because of the surprising attack, Remus took a few seconds before everything in his brain processed and went into place. "Give it here," he said, trying to grab the notebook back.
But Sirius was now ever determined in scrutinizing the full moon drawn on the page he opened. But fortunately, Remus got it back after the second try.
"I knew it!" Sirius exclaimed again. This time, some of the students who shushed him before were now glaring bloody murder. "That's just not only not yours…" he said in a softer voice, but no less excited and amused, "…it's a girl's sketch book."
"A girl?" Remus tried to deny.
"A flower?" Sirius reiterated, pointing at the back of the notebook in Remus' hand. "Unless you're telling me that's a guy's drawing pad, I'm telling you… that's really really not right."
"Fine," Remus admitted in exasperation. Sometimes, talking to Sirius could be exhausting on its own. "Now will you shut up?"
Maybe because it was the whispering that was why the message didn't quite reach Sirius…
"You're in love… I knew it!" Sirius yelled, forgetting about the volume of his voice again. Apparently, he wasn't used being in the library that much. He stopped laughing when he heard a woman clearing her throat to get both their attention.
They looked at where the noise came from and found Madam Pince, the librarian – looking like her usual thin and irritable self – glaring at them irately as if telling them 'Silence!!!' with her vicious vulture-like eyes.
At this particular moment in time with this particular person in question… Sirius didn't dare joke. He didn't even make another sound nor a grunt – because he was sure that she was capable of kicking his ass out the library by her scrawny legs if she wished it. And he wouldn't want to be kicked out of the library. He still had some 'overlooking' to do.
So, the two of them smiled and flashed apologetic looks before Madam Pince left them…
* * * * *
After about an hour, James declared a break from practice. He was in position to land towards the ground when he spotted a red-haired girl from afar – with a boy. And without thinking… at all… he quickly zoomed down and grabbed an unsuspecting Toni back up in the air just as she was on her way down.
"Whoa!" Toni exclaimed, regaining her balance. "James, what the hell?"
James didn't say a word until he was able to drag Toni up the distance where he saw the red head.
"You could've killed me!"
"You were ten feet off the ground," James said with a shrug as a lame apology, just to get it out of the way. Then, he quickly pointed to where the red-haired girl was standing off in the distance – she was near the castle grounds talking to a boy. "That's Lily." He turned to Toni expecting her to agree with him but all she was, was glaring at him for dragging her back up without any warning (she never looked at the direction James was pointing) and then, now, for ignoring her 'near-death' experience. "Isn't it?" he dared even continue to ask. He might've flinched but it was by far unnoticeable.
And because of this, without any hesitation, notice, or any word nor grunt… Toni pushed James out of his broom; but luckily (and Toni probably had known this for she was looking strictly unapologetic), James had a very quick reflex and held on to the broom but he was only hanging by his hands.
"Hey, what'd you do that for?!" James demanded, as he struggled to get back up on his broom.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I thought we were playing, 'let's see who falls off his broom and break his skull first'." She rolled her eyes and then glanced to where James was pointing a while ago. "And James, how could you even see that far away? Lily's not the only redhead in Hogwarts, you know."
"That's Lily. I know it," James insisted, pointing at the girl again.
Toni rolled her eyes again; then, acting totally shocked, she put a hand on her chest and said, "Oh, is that a boy – not James Potter – taking a stroll in the school grounds with Lily Evans? My goodness," she continued this time, putting the same hand on her forehead, "I wonder what they're up to."
But James didn't get the complete and utter derisiveness in Toni's voice and action. Oh please… "Yes!" he exclaimed. "That's a guy."
"I was being sarcastic," Toni said sharply and frankly, looking at James with eyes narrowing by the second.
"Is this because of the fight we had earlier?" James asked. Apparently, Toni's mighty fine talent in sarcasm was being ignored that afternoon. But that wouldn't stop her.
"Yes! Oh yes! Because of your fight, now she's gone off with another man! Tragic…" She paused, looking at James looking at her like he wouldn't know what to think. "Please. Don't be that self-centered."
James stared again at the grounds for about two seconds, then, without another word, he left Toni and swooped down to land.
"Hey, where are you going?" Toni asked, as she followed him down.
James paused for a moment. "Uh – wash my hair," he said as a dumb excuse, running a hand across his hair. Then, off he walked towards the castle.
Toni snorted at the ridiculousness. "You're going over there, aren't you?" she said, catching up with James.
James stopped walking. He looked at Toni as if he was about to say something utterly smart but only managed a snort of denial and a, "No…" Then, he turned around again and started walking faster than ever.
"You are…" Toni called out; she was already almost running now because James seemed to be taking one giant step at a time. "You're jealous… and for an utterly shallow reason," she said matter-of-factly.
"No, I'm not."
Toni sighed audibly – or panted; it wasn't clear because she had been running after James. "Look, if you go there, she will kill you for not trusting her. She'll kill you, and then tear you apart, and then hang your head in her four-poster that she would gaze at every night remembering her horrid glory."
In an instant, James stopped. He turned around and walked back to Toni who was now looking at him with knitted brows… because a smile was ever so widely flashing across his face.
Toni took a step back and put her broom in front of her in pointless defense – afraid that James suddenly turned into a crazy maniac.
"Are you aware," James began, the stupid smile still on his face unfading, "that you're beginning to sound more and more like Sirius every day?"
Toni flashed a shocked look – this time, she wasn't being sarcastic. She gritted her teeth and hit James on the shoulder that caused him to let out a genuine groan of pain. "I'm not kidding!"
"Neither do I!"
"Not that! Lily! If she realizes that you're spying on her, you're dead."
"See! Sirius Black," James said in a delighted voice. He only stopped and pretended to be normal again when Toni wouldn't take her murderous glare off of him. "Alright…" His eyes rolled. "I'm not spying. It's not 'spying' when I go there and see them up close – without them seeing me, of course. Spying is when you're hiding behind the common room window with a pair of Omnioculars in your hands." He smiled and then started off towards the castle again.
"I'm serious!" Toni called after him. When James stopped and grinned mischievously again, she said, "I mean serious. S-e-r-i-o-u-s. Not Sirius Black, you dunghead."
James sighed audibly. "Oh… I miss the days when you actually respected me as your team captain… Remember that?"
"Remember what? That was in third year when I was scared that you'd play one of your immature pranks on me. You weren't team captain…"
But James didn't say another word and continued his way back.
Toni followed suit. "Don't make your situation right now even worse. You're being possessive," she said, walking very quickly in order to catch up. But James suddenly stopped at the word 'possessive' that Toni literally bumped into him. "Ouch. Watch it."
James didn't move at all and let Toni regain her balance to stand herself in front of him. He was about to say something but decided not to. Then, he rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath, "Women," before he started again for the castle. This time, he really was going inside for a quick snack in the Great Hall, as Toni was following closely behind him.
* * * * *
Sirius sat at the corner of the table Remus occupied. His hand was on his chin as he looked at Remus, who was keeping the well-renowned sketch pad close – but as far away from Sirius as possible.
Remus was now quietly studying for N.E.W.T.s when he saw at the corner of his eye, Sirius putting his hand on the table.
Remus pulled the notebook closer.
Then Sirius started tapping his fingers on the table, just staring intently.
"Will you get out of here?" Remus said, apparently getting unnerved.
"Why?" Sirius asked with a smile so wide, it could probably tear his face apart. "So I'd leave you alone with your sketch pad? What are you hiding in there, anyway? Don't tell me there's a picture of you in there… naked! Aaahhh!!!" Sirius said, shielding his eyes – all the while, remembering to keep the volume of his voice to a minimal. He didn't want the librarian glaring at him again.
But it was Remus who glared. "For your information," he began, straightening in his seat, "I happen to respect people's privacy, thank you very much," he continued, all the while being mocked by Sirius while he muttered every word. "That's why I'm not letting you have it."
"So, you haven't looked in it?"
"No."
Sirius yawned – apparently getting bored. "C'mon. It's better than having your face stuck on the pages of these… books all day," he said, gesturing at the pile on the table.
Remus leaned back on his chair and gave Sirius an incredulous stare.
"What?" Sirius asked innocently.
"I happen to be studying for N.E.W.T.s, Mr. Black. Just so you have an idea, the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests, if you didn't know – need a thorough revision of your lessons and be given serious attention to – IN CASE," Remus interrupted even before Sirius could say, 'Hey, that's my name!' which he most certainly would, considering that he was trying to irritate the living mad werewolf out of Remus. "In case you haven't heard, all seventh year students are having them before the school ends. It'll serve as our final exams. I suggest you get yourself ready just in case you want to end up with a job after you leave."
Sirius yawned again. True, it was half-expected of him to be bored like that, but still, Remus expected for him to react the other half. "I know that," he muttered lazily. "I'm just bored… They're having a break from practice."
But there was no response from Remus, as he was back busily reading a book.
"Aren't you even going to ask me if I saw that Eric guy?"
"No," Remus replied flatly.
"Great," Sirius groaned. "Nice to know my friend has been taking an interest in my life."
"Stop being such a girl, Padfoot."
Sirius opened his mouth in shock but didn't say anything. Any word that might come out of his mouth would surely be used against him. So, he didn't push the subject as he didn't really want to seem like he was throwing a girly tantrum. He stayed quiet – to Remus' gratefulness – but only for ten minutes. Because… just as Remus was engrossed with his book, Sirius made for it and lunged at the notebook. He was able to grab it unguarded from Remus' sight.
"Oy! You're relentless!" Remus cried out in surprise. He stood up when Sirius did, too and ran towards the window as fast as he could.
Sirius couldn't go to the other parts of the library as the other students would surely bury him alive if he made any more ruckuses. He quickly scanned the drawings while trying to keep the notebook out of Remus' reach. "Oh, come on. I just want to know the name of the girl you're obsessing about," he said, still looking for the full moon.
"Give it here!" Remus demanded but to no avail. Thus, when desperate times called for desperate measures, he wrestled for the notebook in Sirius' hand.
"Hey, I got a name! Lucy…" Sirius said, with Remus' arm still around his neck and with his hand – which was holding the notebook – stretching as far as it could reach. "Lucy Waltzer?" He tried reading the signature at the bottom right of the page.
Just then, Madam Pince appeared again, glowering at them. Remus quickly straightened his robes, while Sirius… Sirius thought of pretending that he was fingering through the volumes in the book shelves beside them while another hand was rubbing his chin trying to look intent. It was comical, if only another person gifted with such humor were to see it. Unfortunately, it was Madam Pince and she wasn't very fond of jokes so her lips thinned in disapproval rather than smiled and then headed back to her table when Remus and Sirius seemed to be taking their acting very seriously.
Remus took this chance to grab the sketch pad back when Sirius was clearly distracted by the librarian. "It's Walker, you idiot," he said, looking at the signature at the bottom of the drawing.
"Really?" Sirius said, snatching the precious notebook away from Remus again. "Let's see what else this artist girlfriend of yours has made."
"No. Give it back." And… then… Remus tussled with Sirius again.
But they were interrupted… again. But this time, it wasn't the glaring librarian who was gazing at them. It was, actually, Lily's voice that stopped them from twisting all their joints just for a notebook. "Hi, guys."
Remus straightened up at the sound of her voice. Clearly, Lily thought that Remus was the most mature out of all them four friends so he wasn't about to prove her wrong right then. But, just one quick strike at the back of Sirius' head – he could live with that.
"What are you doing?" Lily asked curiously. She looked at Sirius who was busy looking through something.
But she need not ask what it was because he held it up and declared, "Remus is obsessed about a girl who draws full moons."
Lily smiled but tilted her head with knitted brows, implying that she didn't really get what he meant by that.
"Well," Remus began an attempt to change the subject, "Sirius here, who's alien to the library, was just spying –" he pointed out the window "– on your friend just to see if 'Eric from Arithmancy' is lurking around near her."
Lily chuckled and looked at Sirius. "Spying?"
"Well – uh – c – I mean…" Sirius stuttered like he never had stuttered before. "Who needs tutoring in Arithmancy?!" he shouted and then covered his mouth instantly realizing what he had just done.
"Apparently… Eric and the rest of the population who's not you," Remus replied matter-of-factly. "Would it kill you to understand that not all people are 'Sirius Black, Arithmancy wizard extraordinaire'? Although the logic behind that last thing is really hard to grasp."
"I'm beauty and brains," Sirius muttered. "Live with it."
The librarian, who probably heard Sirius shouting a while ago, appeared again and cleared her throat. Lividly, she pointed to the 'Silence' sign on the wall and then turned back to him. "Or do I need to cast a Silencing Charm on you?" she demanded. Sirius mouthed a 'No' with an exaggerated shake of his head. Then, satisfying herself with this answer, she walked away, but not without giving him a warning look. A final warning look.
Sirius mocked a salute at the librarian's back as she walked away. Then, he turned back around almost tossing Lily aside. "Sorry." He didn't notice that she was already beside him. He then remembered what Remus just said because she was staring at him looking like she indeed remembered, too! "Great," he groaned, "now I know for sure I'm dead. Girl friends tell each other everything."
"Sirius, if Toni found out that you don't trust her, she'll be really upset."
"I trust her! I do! The one I don't trust is that 'Hey, look at me!' –" he put an arm around Remus' shoulders "'– I'm gorgeous. I'm delicious.'" He finished with a wink.
"Aarrgh…! Get off me!" Remus said; a disgusted look clearly painted on his face.
Lily shook her head. "Now, how am I supposed to get that image off my head?" she muttered, rolling her eyes away from their direction. "Fine. I'll let this one slide. Just this one. And just because I'm going to have to study for N.E.W.T.s now."
"You too?" Sirius instantly groaned.
Lily smiled an affirmative answer to Sirius. Then, out of nowhere, when she turned around to leave, someone suddenly appeared and bumped into her. "Sorry," she said and then looked up to see… Lucius Malfoy. Her expression swiftly turned grim.
"No harm done," Malfoy drawled, with a sneer playing along his lips.
Remus was suddenly on alert. Even Sirius amazingly transformed into Super Sirius (if that was the case) and turned into a nasty foe. He took the stride and stood between Lily and Malfoy – glaring at Malfoy, the loathsome creature of the dark.
Malfoy smiled wickedly. "My, my. Aren't we becoming quite familiar with the library?"
"Why can't you just cease to exist?"
Malfoy drew closer to Sirius, not showing any change in his calm, clammy emotionless face. "If you hate me that much, Black, then get out of my way."
"I don't hate you," Sirius said, mocking the drawl that was coming out of Malfoy's mouth. "I loathe you."
Malfoy chuckled. "Now we know the feeling's mutual," he said. He set Sirius aside with the back of his hand and said, "Get out of my way, Black."
Sirius pushed Malfoy's hand away from him. Oh filthy hands! And he watched as Malfoy went on his way, while gesturing as if he was strangling him from his back.
"Hey, cool down," Remus said to Sirius, who was clearly unnerved by Malfoy's presence.
"I'm okay," Sirius replied, straightening his robes. "I can't believe he's still a Prefect," he said remembering what Malfoy did last term with the Polyjuice Potion and Kiara in the corridors – which of course, affected him because Lucius borrowed his face for that. "Evil depraved albino monkey!" he added just as a bonus for him.
"Dumbledore surely have his own reasons for that," Lily said with a shrug. "I mean, James and I are Head Boy and Girl. We would have a reason to monitor him, for one."
"Can't we just feed him to Remus during the full moon?" Sirius suggested, apparently back to his insane self.
"Oh, gross! Get off it. I think I have more taste than that – even if I'm not myself."
"But you don't eat artists, do you?"
Remus shot him an ominous 'shut up or I'll kick your ass' glare.
"The girl who draws full moons?" Lily said, half-kidding. "I was just quoting Sirius," she added, shrugging with a smile.
"Yeah. He's obsessed," Sirius replied before Remus could even open his mouth.
"I'm not obsessed," Remus denied. He remembered that Sirius was still holding the notebook and snatched it away from him as long as there was still opportunity. "And I didn't know about any full moons in here either until you invaded her privacy."
"Oh come on!" Sirius groaned. "It's not like that fell off her. She must've dropped it intentionally."
"Actually, yes, she dropped it – after I literally bumped into her earlier and sent everything she had flying across the floor."
"You mean, you sent her flying across the floor?" Sirius muttered.
"Hey, you're taller than me," Remus said, looking at Sirius from head to toe; and below his breathe, he muttered, "You'd probably squash her to death."
"Fine. She probably sent you flying across the hall, then? That's more precise considering—"
"I'm not that thin," Remus interrupted before Sirius could say another word.
And then finally, they noticed Lily's amusement as she was watching the two of them. She turned to Remus and smiled. "You really like her?"
"I think we've been through that already." Sometimes… Sirius couldn't… just… shut his mouth…
"No," Lily said, rolling her eyes, "you've been through that." She turned back to Remus. "So… who's she? What House? Is she a prefect? Cause I can definitely help you if she's a prefect."
"Lucy Walker!" Sirius smarted his way into the conversation again. "Full moon sketcher connoisseur," he said, bowing his head.
But, fortunately, Remus had the ability to ignore him. "No… she's not a prefect. I don't think so. And I'm not really sure what House she's in."
Sirius laughed. "You know, they actually say dogs are color-blind," he said, referring to the impossibility that Remus didn't even notice the color of her robe. Then, he leaned over and whispered but still loud enough for Lily to hear, "But in my human form, I can see color, is it different for you?"
That.
That finally earned him a very well-deserved smack at the back of the head.
"Ouch!" Sirius complained, rubbing his head but still managed to continue laughing. "You mean, you literally don't know anything about this girl? I thought you were joking. That's pathetic."
"Oh, at least I wasn't the one spying on his girlfriend looking out for that guy from Arithmancy."
Sirius smirked. "Thanks for bringing that up again."
Lily sighed audibly. "Won't you just admit that you're jealous?"
"I'm not je—! Hi there again, Madam Pince."
Lily and Remus turned to see the person Sirius was smiling stupidly at. It was Madam Pince alright, and her flaring nose. "You!" she said, pointing at the three of them. "Out of my library."
Lily couldn't believe it. "What?!" she exclaimed with eyes wide as saucers. Was this woman seriously throwing her out of the library? Her? Lily Evans? Head Girl? Dutiful student? Thrown out?
But Madam Pince didn't mind her or the excuses Sirius was conjuring out of nowhere. She stepped towards them and without much of a good bye or a thank you for coming, pushed them out of the library. "Go on. Out. Come back when you've finally understood the meaning of 'silence.'"
To Lily's surprise, Sirius was laughing when they came out of the library. "What? What's so funny?" she demanded, reaching Sirius. And when she finally did, she hit him on the arm and groaned, "I can't believe you got me kicked out of the library!"
But Sirius' twinkling eyes only looked back at her in much amusement. "Hey, I can't believe it either but there's always a first for everything. Would you believe James and I had been trying to do that since first year?"
Lily's eyes widened again, not believing that Sirius actually found this very entertaining. "What?!" This time, she hit him with a book she carried from the Gryffindor tower, and fortunately, never managed to put down the table.
"Okay. That's one time too many."
Lily stopped but was still glowering at him.
"That's why you make a mental note," Remus said, with an expression that said he was actually amused by Lily too (although he wouldn't say such a thing because he really wouldn't appreciate being at the end of a woman's rage), "Never ever admit that you're with him when Madam Pince is breathing down your neck."
* * * * *
"Alright, I'm sorry!"
James entered the room without any warning nor sound except for what he just suddenly blurted out. Lily, who was busy studying in her usual corner in the Head Prefects' Room – her back at the door – was enjoying the quiet (and being inside) when the door opened letting in James Potter. She literally jumped in her seat for shock that her heart might just leave her chest.
"Are you trying to kill me?" she demanded as James walked slowly towards her.
"I'm sorry," he said, standing across her at the table. And then, with a thousand-mile-per-second speech he prepared, he started, "I'm sorry that I had to make you leave Quidditch practice earlier. I'm sorry that I said you were blowing everything out of proportion." He paused, most probably for dramatic effect, and in an almost desperate apologetic look said, "Lils…"
"Fine," Lily said after a second, shrugging. Then she went back to her studies.
James was stunned for a moment. He even looked behind him to see if she was actually talking to him. "Fine?" he asked, just to be sure. He couldn't believe it. He was thankful. But still, he couldn't quite believe it. That was easy. Not normal, yes. But… easy.
"Fine," Lily replied with a nod.
James actually wanted to touch Lily's forehead. Maybe she was sick? But, fortunately, he was sane enough to only pull a chair and sat next to her. "Really?"
"Yeah," Lily said, waving a hand.
James didn't know what else to say. Usually, they would go all boom and bang and then a door would be slammed on his face, or if he was unfortunate, she would hit him with the real intention of hurting him. Then he would moan and mope for her until she decided he had had enough and forgive him.
It wasn't like he loved all that drama. He just didn't like the abnormality of this.
He stayed seated for what seemed to be an eternity because he was still half-expecting a piece of furniture to fly towards his face but fortunately, decided to contain himself with the newly found maturity of their relationship… or was there? He leaned back in his chair… then leaned forward – still not sure if Lily was suddenly replaced by a mad lunatic. Then, he entertained himself for a while by making circles of dust on the table with his finger. "Hmmm… So, anything interesting happened to you today?"
Lily didn't look up at James but replied in a casual tone, "You mean since you kicked me out of the Quidditch pitch? No," she shrugged, "Nothing much."
"So, you're angry with me!"
"I told you I'm not," Lily replied, still not looking up.
James was now starting to go crazy. This was a whole new world and he definitely had no idea how to breathe in it. He scratched his head when Lily didn't say anything more. Then, he started again. "Hmmm… Met any new people?" he asked casually.
"No," Lily replied flatly.
"Are you trying to make me paranoid?" he asked again, using the same tone.
There was a pause.
Lily turned a page then eventually, she nodded saying, "Yyyes."
James realized something. He knew about this tactic! Girls did this all the time to him. But usually not Lily because she liked speaking her mind.
It was the silent treatment.
"So, now you're not talking to me instead."
There was a pause again then Lily nodded but this time, she didn't say the word 'yes'.
James didn't like this treatment. He hated this treatment. He loathed this treatment. He wanted to stab this treatment dead and bury it inside the Giant Squid's belly and then feed the squid to the dementors and then kill the dementors with pure joy of the Patronus Charm. And then he'd laugh and the world would cheer for him.
"Well, I'm not leaving here until you say something," he said so stubbornly and then made himself quite comfortable in his chair and crossed his arms looking extremely concentrated on Lily.
But Lily had the knack of ignoring him. It was a well-practiced forte she had had since she met him. But deep inside, she smiled.
It was the battle of the insane.
Perhaps, James was starting to rub his madness on her…
* * * * *
In the girls' dormitory, Toni just finished taking a shower after practice. She was toweling her hair dry when an owl flew in and sat on the window and started hooting at her trying to catch some attention.
Curiously, she neared the bird and noticed a piece of rolled paper tied around its leg. The owl, which Toni couldn't recognize, voluntarily lifted its leg for her to untie the parchment. And when she did, the owl flew away as quick as possible.
Toni gave a small shriek when the revolt of feathers happened while she was still leaning towards the window. Then, she unrolled the paper with her name written on it and inside, it read:
Stay away from him if you know what's good for you.
And nothing more. Not even a signature. Just a neat script of eleven words than ran straight across the small piece of parchment.
* * * * *
"What is this?" Toni demanded as she swung the door of the boys' room open, holding up the piece of parchment. She quickly dressed after reading the note and went straight for their dormitories having the strongest feeling on who sent it.
Remus and Peter looked up from their readings in surprise and saw that Toni just crashed into their dormitory – going mad.
Toni put down her hand and breathed deeply when Remus and Peter pointed towards Sirius' bed. Oh, well, Sirius was asleep – taking a nap before dinner.
Toni sat next to him, just in the position where he would see her once he opened his eyes. And oddly enough, Sirius – who wouldn't wake for any tectonic plate movements that would crush the whole building – felt someone was watching him. (Probably because dinner time was just in the corner so he wasn't really planning on dozing off to a deep sleep.)
Sirius stirred and recognized Toni's face. He smiled, as if he was dreaming, and said, "Hi…"
Remus cleared his throat – just a precaution to let Sirius know that he and Toni were not alone in the room. Good thing because Sirius probably wasn't aware of that either. He looked up and glanced at Remus' direction and saw Peter sitting there, too. Then, he looked back at Toni and realized that she wasn't looking pretty angelic – actually, she was looking very lethal.
Quickly, he sat up and rubbed his eyes, saying, "What's going on?"
Toni drew another deep breathe and then flashed the piece of paper so close to Sirius' face that his eyes crossed. "'Stay away from him if you know what's good for you'?!" Toni exclaimed, helping out Sirius as he uncrossed his eyes. "Biggest rubbish of a note I've received."
Sirius snatched the note from Toni's hand as she wasn't planning on getting it off his face. He flashed her a look of innocence and then straining his eyes, he tried to read the note himself with his clearing vision. "What's this? I'm guessing this is still about that Arithmancy dumb guy?"
"What's that?" Toni replied. "It's a note. From you, I'm assuming. Although I have no idea whose owl was that you used," she continued as Sirius got out of the bed.
"I did not send you any note," Sirius said with a snort. "I don't need to send you a note. Why do I have to send you a note when for the last twelve hours I've been telling you that I don't like that stupid Eric guy because—"
"You're jealous."
"No…!!!" Sirius groaned in protest. He paused to think of a much better rational answer. "Because – because Kiara says he's hands-on. Touch-y. You heard her." He paused again. "And how sure are you that this is even yours?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because it says Antoinette Turner at the back of it."
Sirius held up the note again and then read the other side of the parchment. "Your name's Antoinette?" Toni glared at him murderously. "I'm kidding," he quickly said. "Toni, this isn't even my handwriting. And why are you making such a big deal out of this?"
"Because you're being such a big baby over this." She paused. "Whatever." Then she turned around and got out of the room.
Sirius took a moment before he was able to absorb everything and every sense. "What?"
* * * * *
Several furniture was now floating in the air inside the Head Prefects Room – thanks to James Potter. He thought of rearranging the chairs and coffee table because Lily was driving him crazy.
It was nearly dinner time and yet, she still wasn't talking to him. And James Mr-Couldn't-Sit-Still Potter (as Lily called him), was going to go mad when he stayed in that chair until eternity. He tried telling her a story about everything he could think of; but Lily wouldn't as much as look at him. Sometimes, he would laugh loudly at his own joke and then would stop abruptly when he glanced that Lily was continuously reading her books.
But James didn't know that this time, he was starting to get Lily's attention. She would twitch when a squeaking noise resonated in the room – sometimes like nails driving through the surface of a chalkboard. She wondered what on earth James was up to, but wouldn't dare turn around to see.
James was transporting one of the couch and the coffee table in the air when all of a sudden, someone came barging in through the door.
"The impossible has happened!"
It was Sirius Black. And just like when James entered the room earlier, Lily's heart almost jumped out of her chest when Sirius came in yelling, combined with an also startled James who dropped the couch and the coffee table on the ground making a loud thump. Everyone in the room thought it created so much wind that even the hearth in the fireplace died (even the candles that Lily was using on the table was put out) – and they were left in the semi-darkness of the castle's shadows.
"What the—?!" Lily cried out, standing up and then turning to face who the hell that was. Somehow, Sirius coming in caused a sudden bizarre unbalance in the world.
"Well," Sirius muttered, talking to James' and Lily's silhouettes against the fading light coming in from the window, "do I make quite an entrance or what?"
Lily crossed her arms, ignoring the darkness for a while, and narrowed her eyes. "Sirius, what are you doing in here?" She paused. "On second thought… how did you get in here?"
Sirius smiled at James then looked at Lily. "Twinkletoes?"
Lily glared at James, knowing that it was him who told the password into the Head Prefects Room.
"I… I…" James stammered, "have… nothing to say."
"Nice redecorations you have going on here," Sirius said in a cheerful note, obviously not in the mood to watch a war between James and Lily. He walked past James and went straight to Lily. "Lily."
But Lily abruptly turned around and went back to her table. She pulled her wand from her pocket and with a wave, lit the candles up again. "Sirius, I'm studying. Which I was supposed to be doing before you kicked me out of the library."
James neared them, wondering why Sirius was suddenly being girl friends with Lily.
"Hey, I did not!" Sirius yelled out defensively. "Well, anyway, you should be thinking of taking a break soon… it's around dinner time."
Lily sighed audibly and then looked at James and Sirius. When she was alone with them together in a darkening room where only a couple of candles were lit – they seemed to look like trolls in comparison to her stature. "Why am I stuck here with the two of you?" she said throwing her hands on her side. "I'm cursed," she muttered. "I am. I'm the most cursed person in this world. Or in any world."
"Wait a second," James moved forward waving a hand in the air in utter confusion. "What the heck is happening?"
Lily rolled her eyes at James. "What's you're problem?" she muttered as she walked to the hearth that James didn't bother to light up again.
"Well, at least thank you now she's talking to me again," James mumbled to Sirius who was left beside him.
Lily finally took notice of the room when she had lit the fireplace. In the simplest of words – everything was in disarray. She saw that even one of the armchairs was overturned. "What were you doing here?" she questioned James in a very incredulous tone.
James bit his lip and shrugged shyly. "Redecorating?" Then he pointed to Sirius. "He's the one who barged in here and blew everything apart."
"Hey! That wasn't my fault," Sirius pouted. "You were the one who was 'redecorating'," he said, mocking James.
"Well, you're the one who gave him the password," Lily pointed back to James – completely ignoring Sirius' protest.
"Alright…" Sirius began again. He ought to have them remember that he was there with a purpose. "Let's not forget why I'm here," he said, standing between James and Lily.
"What do you want?" Lily asked. "Before you say anything… let me just tell you that you can't kick me out of the room this time."
James stepped forward and stood between Sirius and Lily. "What's going on, what's happening? Am I missing something?"
Sirius ignored James and placed himself in between James and Lily again. By this time, the gaps between the three of them were diminishing and Lily was on the losing side because she was just beside the fireplace. "We don't have to go into so much details right now," Sirius said, looking at Lily in the eye. "I'm having a dilemma."
"No. I'm having the dilemma," James insisted. Really, his only dilemma was that Lily wasn't talking to him. He moved again to stand in between Sirius and Lily but there was barely any room that Lily had to step backwards just to keep herself from being squashed.
"Alright then, I'm going to dinner," Lily replied, mimicking the boys' tone.
"But Lily—" Sirius was about to step forward again when Lily pointed at him.
"Don't! Don't take another step unless you want to crush me like a bug." She stepped sideways in order to leave the room.
But James was quick and ran towards the door and barricaded it with himself.
"Oh! My! God!!!" Lily clutched her head as if she had to hold it in because any time now it was going to explode. "What do you two want from me?" And after taking a deep breath, she turned around and walked the other way. First she took one of the chairs at the table then continued walking towards the window.
James' eyes grew wide in anxiety then took a cautious step towards the other side of the room where Lily was. Oh, yes, she definitely definitely was replaced by a raving lunatic. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"Jump," Lily replied quite casually like it was an every day thing for her, as she placed the chair beside the window and stepped up on it. "Maybe I could fly. What do you know?"
"Are you crazy?!" James exclaimed. He quickly ran to her and grabbed her by the waist just as she put one foot on the ledge of the window. Then he carried her to one of the overturned armchairs and sat her safely.
"In how many ways can I answer yes to that?"
James bent down in front of her and asked in a concerned voice, "Okay, what just happened right there?"
Lily stared at James and then with a casual shrug, she said, "I dunno…"
Meanwhile, Sirius was now standing by the window, looking at the high jump down. He scratched his head – it was probably a four-storey jump. "Were you seriously going to jump out that window?" He was serious, as a matter of fact, when he asked that question.
"Of course not," Lily said flatly. "I'm not stupid."
"What did you do to her?" James was aching to blame somebody but him. Thus, he demanded of Sirius where the missing bolt in Lily's head was that night.
Sirius' face turned to a surprise shock like he had just been accused of killing someone.
"Well, she was fine a minute ago," James insisted.
"Oh yeah… well, from what I heard a while ago, she wasn't talking to you. See, so when I heard you talking outside while I was saying the password – you were actually talking to yourself! So, in conclusion," Sirius said, proud of his deduction of people's lunacy that night, "you were the one who was losing his head a while ago and smeared it all over Lily's precious sane head." He paused, staring at James' and Lily's open mouths. "You broke her, James."
"Oh give it up," Lily said, after shaking her head thinking that Sirius might be possessed or something. She stood up and sat at the table again, facing Sirius. "Alright then, what is it?" she demanded irately. When Sirius didn't speak, she asked again, "What is it? What is this dilemma you were talking about?"
Sirius slowly approached Lily. "Are you alright?" Then his expression changed as if realizing something. "Oh… is it… that… time of the month—?"
"Oh shut up!" Lily commanded. Clearly, she wouldn't want to be stuck with these two people alone again. She would go extremely mad!
"Since when do you share your problems with my girlfriend?" James asked, a little curious and a little hurt that he was being ignored in the conversation.
"You know, a lot of things can happen in a day," Lily replied.
Sirius grabbed his head tightly and looked at the two of them back and forth. "Is this how you two fight? It's quite confusing, I'm telling you. Maybe that's why James here goes mad every time you two have a row."
"Oh, I know," Lily began, smiling at Sirius. "Toni found out you were spying on her, right? And you're here because basically, she's on her way to exterminate you."
"What? Nuh-no." Sirius paused then in a low voice, said to Lily, "Hey, I thought that was between you and me?"
"And… Remus."
"So, a lot of things really can happen in a day," James interrupted again. He pulled a chair and sat beside Lily – both of them now facing Sirius as if he was being trialed. "Like meeting someone new, spying on someone, getting someone kicked out of the library, and consequently getting kicked out of the library…"
"You met someone new?"
"No."
"Or receiving bloody notes from anonymous owls!!!" Sirius finally blurted out, waving out the piece of parchment he was carrying around. He was planning to have a good conversation with Lily Evans. A short one. A very concise one. But he never imagined that this kind of complication existed. Maybe there was a maddening essence in the air – that everyone just suddenly sniffed and then a part of their brain disappeared… forever…
But luckily, that wasn't the case.
"That wasn't supposed to come out that way," Sirius said, looking up at the ceiling – a little embarrassed; as James and Lily looked at him with perplexed stares.
James stood and snatched the parchment from Sirius. "This note? This is your dilemma?"
"Oh, you were actually paying attention. I'm so glad."
Lily read the note in James' hand. She sighed audibly and looked at Sirius with knitted brows. "I told you to just admit it. You're jealous." She seized the parchment and waved it around in front of Sirius saying, "Why do you have to resort to this childish stuff?"
"Have I mentioned 'from anonymous owls'?"
Lily turned over the paper and read the back of the note. "Antoinette Turner… Who in the world addresses Toni as 'Antoinette Tuner'?"
"But that's the least of my problems now, is it? Toni's probably cursing that person right now for calling her Antoinette. The thing is, Toni walked out on an argument… without hitting me."
"That's good… right?"
"Not when it repeats a memory of me lying in the Hospital Wing while pleading for her to forgive me."
"Who's 'him'?" James suddenly interrupted. "'Stay away from him.' Who's 'him'?"
Sirius looked at him with disbelieving wide eyes. "I can't believe you're still there!"
"Oh… that guy again, huh?" Then, James took the note from Lily again and scrutinized it a little closer. "Don't you think that handwriting looks awfully familiar?" He glanced at Lily. "Slytherin scribble."
"Why are you looking at me like that?" It was Lily. She didn't really appreciate being reminded that once upon a cursed time, she fancied Lucius Malfoy. Aack!!!
She glared at James and Sirius who were smiling rather sheepishly at her; then, as if it was a day of déjà vous, another person came bursting in through the door screaming bloody murder.
"Lily! That Sirius Black is killing me!"
It was Toni. She went dumbstruck when she saw Sirius in there that her hands involuntarily placed themselves on her hips.
Lily, on the other hand, straightened up and tucked a few stray strands of hair at the back of her ears. When James and Sirius wouldn't stop staring at her accusingly… "Well, you told your friends, too," she muttered to James with an eyebrow raised.
Sirius then advanced towards Toni and said in his most convincing, pleading tone, "I told you, I don't know anything about that letter."
"Well, I guess this isn't yours either," Toni answered waving yet another piece of parchment in her hand – much like the one she received earlier, "'I need you to trust me. This isn't who you think it is'? Well, that's just perfectly believable, Sirius."
Sirius took the note from Toni's hand and read it. He let out a loud groan of frustration and turned to James, flashing him the letter. "See? See what that git is doing to me? When did you get this?" he asked Toni.
"In the library. I was looking for Lily. And it wasn't a very nice experience bumping into Malfoy either."
"Why?" Sirius' tone suddenly turned awfully low. Somehow, he thought that Malfoy found out that he was the one who cast that spell on Snape earlier and tried to get even through Toni. But then, he realized… Slytherins don't really care for people but themselves.
"I don't like his face," Toni said, her mouth curled one side. Then she quickly added disbelievingly, "Do you have to ask that? He's hateful."
"Oh," Sirius replied. "Well I was here the whole time. Beat that!" he declared, oh, ever so proudly knowing that Toni wouldn't find any reason to blame him for the letters now.
Toni sighed exasperatedly. "Alright, then," she said, crossing her arms. Then, without batting an eye, she told him, "You're coming with me tomorrow."
"To tutor that animated vainglorious hands-on pervert?!"
"You've put a lot of thought in that statement, haven't you?"
"I've had some time in my hands…" Sirius said slowly… stealing a glance at Lily – just in case she started yelling the incident at the library.
Fortunately, she didn't.
* * * * *
After much deliberation in the Head Prefects Room, it was decided (by Toni) that Sirius would be going with her to the tutorial session with Eric. And Sirius, of course, had no choice even after he had insisted for the hundredth time that he wasn't the one who sent the notes. But for now… it was Sirius – for no one else would admit it. And Sirius let that be for the time being because his stomach started grumbling for food.
Thus, they all resolved that dinner would be much appreciated.
As the four of them entered the Great Hall, everyone was engrossed in their usual buzzing – which would have been easily ignored if they weren't overhearing something weird.
"I was in the Common Room. We were playing Wizards' Chess."
"Maybe it was a spell gone badly."
"One of the Slytherins said that it was an omen of some sorts."
"Slytherin? And you believed him? You know everything they say is rubbish."
"So," Lily began as she sat at the Gryffindor table; she looked at Kiara and asked, "why does it seem like everyone's buzzing about an omen?"
"What do you mean?" Kiara replied a little confused. She looked at Lily curiously as if she should've known what was going on. "So, where were you when the lights went out?"
"The lights went out?"
"You mean…" Kiara paused waiting for some kind of punch line of a joke. "Where were you? In an alternate universe?"
"I was in the library," Toni replied. Well, apparently, she had some knowledge on what was happening.
"I'm lost," Sirius complained. He had been trying to figure people out since the many incidents in the Head Prefects Room. He was kinda tired… and hungry. "What exactly are we talking about here?"
"You don't know?" Kiara muttered again, with her brows knitted in utter perplexity. "All the lights went out a while ago. The fireplaces, the torches in the hallways… even the candles." She paused… maybe the light guiding their minds also went out a while ago and she thought of waiting for it to dawn on her friends again. But when all she received was a blank stare from James, Sirius and Lily, she demanded, "Where in the world were you?"
James cleared his throat. Where was he when all the lights went out? "I guess… I guess we were in the Head Prefects Room."
Kiara narrowed her eyes. "All three of you?" she said slowly. "And you didn't notice that 'Hey, why is it so suddenly dark in here?'"
"Well… I had an armchair and a table in the air. Then Sirius showed up with such… utter distraction personified. When I lost control I thought the wind from the impact when they fell… you know… blew out the fire."
Kiara straightened in her seat as if something James said just didn't make quite sense. Well, come to think of it, it really didn't make much, actually. "What were you doing floating armchairs?" she dared even ask but shook her head just as fast suggesting for James not to answer her. "Has it ever occurred to you to realize that the hearth in the fireplace doesn't die unless you kill it with magic or unless there's no one around?"
James gave and expression of 'Hmm… you've got a point' but didn't really say something more for it was Lily who said what he was thinking. "What did Dumbledore say?"
Kiara shook her head. "He's not here yet. But the most popular theory so far is that some students were studying for Charms or… something… and well… just a spell gone out of control."
"Well, there's no problem, then," Sirius declared.
But just as he said that, Peter came into the Great Hall – walking and running at the same time. He would fly if only he could. He went straight for James and Sirius who were staring at him curiously since he was probably looking like a wheezing mouse. Almost out of breath, he stopped and gazed at James and Sirius – only at James and Sirius. His eyes were apparent with fear. "J-James. S-S-Sirius," he said, with his voice low so that only the two could hear him. "C-can I-uh-t-talk? T-to you? F-for a s-s-second," he continued, pulling their robes.
Surprisingly, Sirius rolled his eyes and sniggered. "Oh, Peter. It wasn't the end of the world. It was just a bunch of students who were a little slow in Charms." Then, he turned to Toni and muttered, "Why couldn't it be Arithmancy? At least that bloody Eric would have a support group or something."
But Peter only shook his head and tugged at James' and Sirius' robes harder. "P-please…"
"We'll be right back," James told the others at the table, smiling. He tried not to show it but he sensed that Peter wasn't thinking about the end of the world. So, he stood up and pulled Sirius by his robe's collar with him.
"Hey," Sirius protested. "Dinner? It's coming in a few minutes. I'm hungry!"
But James ignored him and dragged Sirius until he voluntarily came.
James waited until they were out of the Great Hall. "What's going on, Wormtail?"
"I-it's R-Remus…"
~*~*~*~
oblivion is falling down... -- hale, "the day you said goodnight"
There you go… so, you see, it's rather long. That's why it has managed to drain me… but still, I liked writing so I hope you liked reading it.
Don't forget to leave a review…!!!