Days in Avalon
Chapter Six: Year of the Owls
"Hey Lily? Earth to Lil. Come in Lil," said a distant voice.
"Huh?" said Lily just now registering that someone was waving their hand in front of her face. She blinked back into reality and saw that the hand belonged to her friend Felicia with her other friend Kelly sitting next to her.
"Hey you okay? You spaced out there for a bit," said Felicia.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking about stuff," said Lily as she glanced out the window of the train to see the last few students boarding the Hogwarts Express.
"Oh? What kinda stuff," said Felicia with a sly grin.
"Stuff that happened at the beginning of Second year," said Lily slightly annoyed with her friend's sometimes sick and perverted mind.
"Huh? Oh…you mean the famous striptease of Potter, Black, Lupin, and Pettigrew," said Felicia as she remembered the looks on their faces and how she felt when her and her friends pulled off one of the greatest pranks Hogwarts had seen in years.
"Yeah that was pretty cool," said Kelly as she to relived the memory. "It's hard to believe that it was almost three years ago."
"Oh please don't remind me," grimaced Felicia. "I don't know how I'm going to handle this year. I heard that this is going to be the hardest, next to NEWT year. So you know what that means."
"Yeah, I know exactly what that means," said Lily. "It means you'll wait until the last minute again to finish your homework and then come crying to me to help you." At this remark Kelly broke out into a fit of giggles while Felicia looked on Lily with a scandalized face.
"Hey gals, can we join you?" said a familiar sweet voice coming from the door. There standing in the doorway was none other than their Hufflepuff friend Karen with a shy looking eleven-year-old girl.
"Karen!" said Kelly and Lily at the same time.
"Of course," said Felicia glad that her conversation with Lily was over.
"Thanks. Oh, gals this is my little sister Candice," said Karen pointing to the girl next to her who gave a timid 'hello'.
"Hi!" said the three girls at once.
"First year?" said Lily as Candice took a seat next to her.
"Yep," said Karen.
"Ah, don't worry. You'll have a great time. Hogwarts isn't that bad," said Lily trying to comfort the scared first year.
"Yeah, the only thing you'll have to worry about is the wrath of McGonagall," said Felicia. "Now students remember to annunciate properly! No SLOUCHING! How many times have I told you.." said Felicia in a mock impersonation of her Transfiguration professor and Head of House. By this time all of the girls, including Lily, were now laughing hysterically at Felicia's performance as the train pulled out of the station and started steaming north.
"Potter! Black! How many times have I told you not to turn Mr. Snape into a salamander?" added Felicia in her 'McGonagall' voice.
"Now there are a couple of people who you should really look out for," said Kelly.
"Yeah, no kidding. Those two are a nightmare!" said Lily.
"Wait aren't those the two you told me about?" said Candice to her sister.
"Yep the same ones. Two of the biggest prats in Hogwarts history," said Karen.
"The world actually, especially Blackie," said Felicia with a slight shutter.
"I don't know about that. Potter could give him a run for his money some days, especially around the Gryffindor/Slytherin match," said Lily as she rolled her eyes.
"True. But if it weren't for Andy helping to keep him along with the rest of the gang in check, the hospital wing would be over flowing with victims of their pranks," said Kelly.
"Speaking of Andy, where is she?" said Felicia noticing a trunk above Lily baring Andy's initials.
"Don't know," said Kelly now wondering where the fifth member of their group was.
"I haven't seen her at all," said Karen.
"She said something about seeing Wood," said Lily as she dug through her bag looking for her new book that she just bought.
"Wood?" said Kelly with her eyes widening with surprise.
"Yeah, he's the new Quidditch captain. He wanted to talk to her and Robin about some new strategies," said Lily.
"Just hope she doesn't run into that Keeper of his. Geez do you remember the last time those two got into a row," said Felicia.
"How could we forget, it was right before we got of the train a couple months ago!" laughed Karen.
"Do you guys even know what that fight was about?" said Kelly.
"Not really. The only thing I remember was something about him being a 'lying-cheat' and then…" said Lily.
"Yeah, all hell broke loose," finished Felicia.
"Let's just hope this year doesn't start off with…" said Karen but was interrupted with someone familiar shouting in the hallway.
"Why don't you grow up you juvenile delinquent!"
"No thanks. Besides where's the fun in that?" said an all to familiar male voice.
"Uh oh," groaned Kel and Karen.
"Not again," exasperated Lily as she got up and headed toward the door.
"And so it starts," sighed Felicia as she followed in Lily's wake. As they both looked out the hall they could see the back of their friend Andy 'talking' to none other than her arch nemesis, Sirius Black.
"Geez you're never going to change, are you? Even when you're…a thirty year old man, you're still going to have the same stupid jokes and gags," said a frustrated Andy.
"No actually I plan on coming up with some new ones," said Sirius cheekily.
"Why do I even try to be nice?" sighed Andy to herself.
"Because you fancy me. Come on, admit it. You know you want me. That's why you continue to talk to me," said Sirius in a matter of fact tone.
"Urgh, excuse me now while I'll barf! For your information, the only reason why I even acknowledge your presence is because you're James's best mate, and we just so happen to be on the same Quidditch team," growled Andy as she tried to control her temper.
"Aww…that's only your excuse, Sparky," said Sirius in a sweet tone.
"How many times have I told you not to call me that!" roared Andy.
"Ummm…counting now…about 78,901."
"Smart ass," sighed Andy as she rolled her eyes.
"Thanks."
"It wasn't a compliment," spat Andy as she turned to leave and join her friends in their compartment. That was until Sirius noticed the small backpack purse hanging loosely from her hand and decided to grab it. "HEY!"
"Well, well, well, what have we here?" sang Sirius.
"Give it back Blackie!" growled Andy, as she was growing more annoyed by the minute with the presence of the boy before.
"Now just a minute," said Sirius brightly as he held the bag just out of Andy's reach.
"What's going on here?" said a voice from behind Sirius. As Andy quickly tried to grab her belonging she saw that the voice came from yet another Marauders, Remus Lupin.
"Someone said…oh, should have guessed," said Remus when he saw who was causing the disturbance on the train.
"Hey Moony! How's one of my best mates doing?" said Sirius as he abandoned Andy and went over to his fellow partner in crime.
"Fine. What are you doing," said Remus skeptically as he noticed the big grin on Sirius's face.
"Being an idiotic prat as usual," chortled Andy. "Give it back Black!"
"No. I was just trying to help out my friend the prefect here," said Sirius in a matter of fact tone.
"How's taking my bag helping him out?" shouted a perplexed Andy. 'This guy become more brainless than ever, if that's at all possible!' she thought.
"Well…there might be some items that need to be confiscated. You know dung bombs, a box of vomit-flavored jellybeans, some of the special itching powder…" rambled Sirius until…
"Sirius's brain," stated a voice coming from the compartment just behind Sirius and Remus. As the door slid open, out stepped none other than James Potter along with Peter Pettigrew giggling from behind him.
"James. How long have you been there?" said Andy slightly grateful to see someone who could end this without someone getting hurt…namely Sirius.
"Long enough. What's up Andy?" chuckled James.
"Nothing much. Just trying to think of the perfect hex for your mate here," said Andy as she glared at Sirius.
"Now why would you do such a thing?" said James playfully.
"Because he's as big as a toerag as yourself, Potter," growled a voice belonging to Lily, who was now tired of these games.
"Oh great here comes…Evans," said James losing he's train of thought as Lily came up along side Andy, followed by Felicia and Kelly.
"That's enough Sirius," growled Lily.
"Lil, it's fine. I don't need your help. People like him I can handle," said Andy as she tried to get her best friend to step back and avoid another incident like the one that happened a couple of months prior.
"Oh, and just how are you going to handle me?" said Sirius with an evil smirk on him face and a raised eyebrow.
"Get your mind out of the gutter, Sirius," said Felicia in a strange tone.
"Come on Padfoot, just give it back," said James.
"Fine," said Sirius in defeat. As he handed over Andy's bag, a small red book fell out of the bag.
"Oh what's this…another diary perhaps," said Sirius with a mischievous glint in his eye.
"No," spat Andy as she ripped the book out of his hands, "I already learned from that mistake."
"Come on then, let go take our seats," suggested Remus eager to end the confrontation before things got out of hand. With that everyone started to go their separate ways. That was until Andy heard…
"Yeah, so Sparky can get all excited about a new boy and write it down," chuckled Sirius to James as they headed for the compartment that James had just came out of.
"Odous largus!" shouted Andy as she quickly whipped out her wand and pointed it strait at Sirius's back. Suddenly Sirius's entire mouth felt very cramped. Upon opening it, he saw that he now had primitive caveman teeth via his reflection in the window.
"That does it!" he mumbled. "Longus nasus taille" shouted Sirius with his wand pointed at the group of girls. Just as fast as Sirius's teeth grew, Lily, Andy, Felicia, and Kelly suddenly grew long Pinocchio noses and an extra little surprise.
"Oh, real mature Black. Did you think that up all by yourself or did your mummy help you?" spat Andy as Lily muttered the counter curse for the long noses.
"I wouldn't talk if I were you, tail girl," chuckled Sirius. By now a good portion of the students on the train were now watching this little display of who's better than whom. Half of the people couldn't help but laugh at the new appendages that the girls grew while the other half was in total shock.
"Huh?" said all four girls until they noticed that something was whipping behind them.
"You gave me a tail?" said Andy in total repulsion.
"Well…not just you," giggled James as he pointed to the tails on Lily, Felicia, and Kelly.
"You little git!" screamed Felicia.
"Take it off now!" roared Lily.
"Good one mate," chuckled James.
"It's not funny!" screeched Lily.
"Yeah, it is," said James.
"Take it off me!" yelled Felicia with a mad glint in her eyes.
"Make us," smirked Sirius.
"Alright," said Felicia in a harsh tone as she pulled out her wand from her back pocket.
"Felicia no!" screamed Karen, but she was too late. Felicia uttered a spell that sent Sirius flying into James. As he was getting up, all both Lily and Andy saw the crazed look in he eyes and knew that what he was thinking wasn't good. Lily quickly tried to pull out her wand, just as Sirius fired another curse.
"PROTEGO!" shouted Andy who had already had her wand ready. Just as Sirius's curse hit Andy's shield, the curse bounced back and hit all four of the Marauders knocking them all to the ground.
"I see someone's been practicing dueling," grunted Sirius as he propped himself up on his elbows and was met with Andy and Lily standing right in front with their wands pointing directly at his heart.
"No, I'm just better than you. Why won't you just admit it?" said Andy.
"I don't think so," spat Sirius as he glanced at James. Suddenly out of know where, James swiftly took hold of Lily and pined her to the wall, while Sirius knocked down Andy and pined her to the floor.
"Now that's better," chuckled Sirius as he gazed down at Andy while she tried to break his grip.
"Let me go Potter!" screamed Lily as she tried to break the death grip that James had around her waist.
"Get off, Black!" roared Andy as she fumbled around in search of her wand.
"Nope. Not until you say the magic word," said Sirius with a smirk.
"Get off now, or I'll hex you into the middle of next week," said Andy as she tried to get up.
"ANNNNN," said Sirius imitating a buzzer, "Wrong answer."
"Oh really?" chimed Andy as she finally grabbed a hold of the slender piece of wood next to her. "Rictusempra!" With that just as fast as the boys acted, Lily broke free of James's grip by stepping on his foot and Andy pushed Sirius off her while he was feeling the effects of the tickling curse. While Sirius was twitching around on the ground, Andy mirrored his exact attack and pinned him to the floor.
"Now what were you saying?" chimed Andy.
"How did I know you were the type that likes to be on top?" chuckled Sirius as the effects of the spell started to wear off.
"Huh? Urgh…you little pig!" spewed Andy as she quickly jumped off him and stormed down the hallway into the girl's compartment.
"Why don't you teach your mate there how not to act like a complete prat!" shouted Lily to James. "Oh wait I forgot who I was talking to."
"Hey I resent that. And besides it doesn't work." chimed James as Lily and the rest of the girls stormed off into their compartment.
"EEERRRRRRRRRRR- I CAN'T STAND THAT LITTLE PIECE OF…" growled Andy paced back and forth seething with anger.
"Andy calm down," said Lily.
"Calm down? CALM DOWN! Did you hear what that little slimy maggot said?" yelled Andy.
"Yeah I heard. But you still need to calm down. Here, take a deep breath," said Lily.
"I really doubt that breathing will help any here, Li.." said Andy.
"Breath!" exclaimed Lily, Felicia, Kelly, and Karen at the same time. Seeing that there was no way out of it, Andy complied and took a deep breath and held it for a while.
"Exhale," said Lily after a couple of moments. "Better?"
"Yeah," said Andy not really wanting to admit it, as she flopped down into a seat.
"What happened anyway?" said Karen.
"I was talking to Wood and…" started Andy but she soon grabbed the nearest pillow and began screaming into it.
"Why don't we wait a few minutes," suggested Kelly.
"Or hours," added Karen.
"Or days," said Felicia.
"Or years," giggled Lily.
"How about a life time," chimed Andy feeling a bit calmer. "All right, that whole thing started when I was talking to Wood and Robin about some new strategies for this year. Anyways, James came in followed by," said Andy as she tried to keep from going all bonkers again.
"Let me guess, Black?" said Karen to which Andy nodded.
"Yeah, him. Well, while we were talking, he decided to brag about what a wonderful keeper he is, and how he plans on blocking a hundred goals this season. And he just kept going on and on and on and on and on," said Andy in disgust.
"Well, Andy he is a good keeper. That's why he's on the house team," said Felicia.
"I know that! And if it weren't for that and the fact that he's Jay's best mate, I wouldn't even say two words to him," said Andy.
"Wait, you're friends with James Potter?" piped Candice.
"Yeah. Wait, who are you?" said Andy just now noticing the small first year sitting next to Karen.
"Candice, my sister," said Karen.
"Oh, hi! Sorry about that," said Andy now feeling like a complete idiot blowing up in front of a small kid.
"That's alright. I'm actually finding this entertaining. But I thought you lot hated Potter," said Candice.
"We do," said a variety of voices.
"Well…one of us truly does," said Felicia under breath.
"So then why are you friends with him?" said Candice.
"Ever heard of the phrase, 'keep your friends close, but your enemies closer'?" said Andy with a smirk.
"Yeah, you really kept him close," said Lily.
"Now what's that suppose to mean?" said Andy as she glanced over to her friend.
"Nothing…other than the fact that you kept snogging with him all through third year," spat Lily.
"Not this again," sighed Andy as hung her head. "Lil, how many times do I have to tell you it wasn't like that."
"What is she talking about," asked Candice.
"Back when we were in third year, Jay and I started to…well…date," said Andy.
"And snog," said Lily in abhorrence.
"Lily do you really want to know how many times I actually kissed him?" said Andy getting tired of having the same quarrel with her friend.
"You kept count?" said Kelly.
"Well I think three is an easy number to remember," said Andy.
"Yeah, right," said Felicia not buying what her friend was saying.
"You don't believe? Fine, give me some of that Vera-what-ever-crap, and I'll prove it to you," said Andy as she started into her friend's eyes not blinking for a second.
"You're serious?" said Karen.
"Yeah. Each time we did, it just felt weird. Kinda like I was kissing my brother, or cousin, or something like that," said Andy with a shutter.
"I still don't get what possessed you to even go out with him," said Lily.
"He's not that bad, Lil. Sure, yeah, he can be a royal pain in the behind some days…"
"Some days?" chuckled Lily.
"but he's really in nice." said Andy trying to make Lily believe her.
"Whatever," sighed Lily.
"Anyways I thought you'd think of him differently after what happened a couple of years ago," said Andy with a smirk. All of sudden Lily quickly turned toward her friends with wide eyes.
"Don't even go there," warned Lily.
"What are you talking about?" said Kelly at a lost.
"Wait you're not…"said Felicia to Andy.
"Yep!" said Andy with a wide grin on her face.
"What? What are you lot talking about?" said Kelly again.
"Oh, yeah that's right. She wasn't there!" said Karen now understanding what was going on.
"What!" said Kelly not liking to be out of the loop.
"Back during third year, Andy here dared Lil to do something," said Felicia with an evil smirk on her face as she glanced over to where Lily was sitting and could see that she was starting to turn a slight shade of crimson.
"Which was?" said Kelly desperate to know.
"I told her to go and kiss James," said Andy in a matter of fact tone as relaxed back into her chair.
"You what?" chuckled Kelly.
"Not only kiss," chimed Karen. "She had to kiss him on the lips, slip him the tongue and do it for three minutes. Oh, and she had to pinch him in on the arse after doing it."
"Yeah, right! Like our Lily would ever do that!" chuckled Kelly until she noticed Lily's color and how she kept trying to avoid making eye contact with them. "You didn't? Did you?"
"It wasn't the highest moment in my life," mumbled Lily in defeat.
"OH…MY…GOD! I can't believe I missed it!" laughed Kelly at the thought of seeing her friend kissing her worst nightmare.
"Well thanks for this wonderful trip down memory lane," said Lily as she got up and fixed her robes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have prefect duties," she huffed.
"Lil come on. Lily!" said Andy right when Lily slammed the compartment door shut.
"Guess she's still a little upset about it," said Kelly trying to break the awkward silence that crept up.
"Yeah," sighed Andy knowing that she had definitely crossed a line.
Disclaimer: For the hundredth time…I don't own anything except for characters Andy, Felicia, Kelly, Karen, and any other character I think up. Everyone else belongs to J.K. Rowling.