Recap: Marlene, Mary and Dorcas spend a portion of the summer at the Evans's where Marlene bonds with Petunia over her first date. Lily get's strange annoying letters from James Potter while Mary prattles on about how they're meant to be. Over at the Breckbridges, Colton gets a letter from the ministry informing him that his fellow Hufflepuff captain Maya Sue Hillbard is dead- the other remaining captains show up at his house where there is more than what meets the eye. Vernon Dursley has to drive his best friend to his date- where he falls in love with Marlene Mckinnon at first sight. Over at the Black family dinner Regulus learns his cousin Andromeda was blasted off the family tree because she married a muggle and can't understand why Sirius thinks it's not the right thing to do.
Disclaimer: I own nothing XD Except a few characters that could have existed if J.K. Rowling wrote a Marauders book (Still hoping she does XD)
Chapter 34: Suppressing Feelings
"And wait wait stop it right there Mary-no not there- there!" Dorcas Meadowes suddenly reached over and pulled the record closer to her, looking dreamy. "This is my favorite song."
"Funny," Mary mocked. "that's what you said about the last 5 songs."
"Mary." Lily warned the dark haired witch who was laying down on the bed, a book propped against her knees.
"What?" Mary shrugged innocently. "It's true."
Lily sighed and turned back to Dorcas who had begun describing the origins of the song. Lily nodded listened intently to the song, yet not really listening to it all. She had just spotted an owl outside her window and she had no doubt about who it was from. All week long James had been sending her letter non-stop. For whatever reason the boy had come up with to send her these letters, was beyond Lily.
"That's the third one now." Mary noticed raising her brow as Lily sent the tawny brown owl away with another treat. "Who is it from, Lily?"
Lily shrugged trying to seem nonchalant. "Just school stuff I think." She ignored the curious glance on Mary's face and hopped towards her desk dropping the letter with the other three she had also neglected to open.
"Lily Evan not opening up school stuff," Mary continued smirking, "That's totally normal."
"I'll look at it later." Lily said quickly. "Dorcas was about to tell us about Myriad right?" She looked over at Dorcas hopefully. The blond grinned and continued with her latest bit of news on the young wizard pop star. Lily had heard almost everything there was to know about the boy. His favorite color, his favorite band, food..In short Dorcas Meadowes was obsessed. And Lily was feeding right into her obsession for the sake of hiding James Potters letters from Mary. What was the world coming too, she wondered.
Mary frowned at Lily's obvious lie but was swept away by Dorcas's excitement about Myriad. "And last year it was his album Nox, and the year before that was his hit song 'Firewiskey lies.' Annie introduced it to me when we first met and I still can't get it out of my head-"
"So he releases a new song every year?" Mary asked incredulously, stretching her legs. "You mean it takes him an entire year to come up with one song?"
"Hey!" Dorcas protested sitting up to face the other witch. "A lot of love and planning goes through each and everyone of Myriad's songs. I won't let you insult them."
"Of course," Mary said sobering up. "I wouldn't want to insult my future brother-in-law either. I'm just saying you've come up with more songs than he has in an entire month."
"Those were just lyrics." Dorcas explained. "I still need to work them out, and hey he's only two years older than me, It could work."
Lily's eyes widened when she realized what Dorcas was saying. "Dorcas Meadowes!"
Mary grinned. "Oooooooh Dorcas is in loveeeeee. She's in loveeeee with Myriiiiiadddd!"
Dorcas sighed and closed her eyes. "Oh Lily he's so romantic too. You've listened to his songs- they've got so much love in them and the things he says in his interviews- can you imagine anyone more perfect?"
"Dorcas is in loveee! Dorcas is in loveee!" Mary giggled spinning around. "How much do you want to bet his new song will be called Meadowes?"
Dorcas threw a pillow at her. "If only."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Now I know what to get you for your birthday."
Dorcas shrugged. "His songs always get released the first week of school- if you want any ideas."
"Noted." Lily smiled recognizing another owl l that was flying towards her window. She shut the curtains abruptly before Mary could notice. Thankfully the dark haired witch wasn't looking anywhere at her.
"Hey, where's Marlene?" Mary asked scanning the room. She opened her mouth and yelled as loud as she could. "MARLENE!"
Lily and Dorcas both covered their ears. Despite Mary's vertically challenged height, the girl could yell.
"Could you get any louder?" Lily sighed eyes turning to the last place she had seen the curly haired blond. "I don't know. She was right there."
"She left like thirty minutes ago." Dorcas answered from her spot on the foot of the bed. "I thought you guys saw. I think she went to Petunia's room too."
"You saw her leave and you didn't stop her?" Lily asked staring down at the brunette.
Dorcas shrugged. "I thought she went to sleep early. She was tired when we picked her up too."
"We should go find her." Mary suggested. "And I'm starving. Any chance your mum has more of those muffins?"
Lily led the girls downstairs stepping on the last step when the front door handle jiggled. Lily froze. Her mom had gone upstairs hours ago and her dad would still be at work at this time...She suddenly wished she had grabbed her wand before she had come down.
"Maybe it's a neighbor," Dorcas suggested looking fearfully towards the door.
"No, Ms. Potts always knocks or rings the bell and Mr. Thompson usually pounds on the door..." Lily started uncertainly.
"Why did we just stop?" Mary asked finally as Lily and Dorcas both shushed her. Then the three girls watched as the door opened and Marlene McKinnon, in all her blond hair and blue eyes walked in.
"Oh Marlene!" Mary jumped down the last step making a beeline to the door to attack the blond. "Were we that boring that you had to run away?"
Lily and Dorcas's eyes met and both witches let out a sigh of relief.
"Where'd you go Marlene?" Dorcas asked. "I was beginning to get worries."
"I needed some air." Marlene replied to her. "I was feeling sick."
"Sick?" Amanda Evan's voice echoed as she walked towards the group of them. "Surely not. Can I get you anything dear?"
Marlene shook her head at the elderly Ms. Evans "No thank you, I'm fine."
"You sure dear?" Amanda Evans's asked her green eyes looking at Marlene with concern, just as Lily's were. Sometimes it was hard not to see the similarities between Lily and her mother, but Lily knew despite the green eyes, Amanda Evans was an exact carbon copy of Petunia. Lily didn't look anything like her father either, so she was quite unsure where she had gotten her red hair and petite frame from. Unlike her, Amanda Evans was tall and Mr. Evans was quite short.
Marlene nodded. "I'm sure. Thank you Ms. Evans."
"Well dinner's about ready if you girls want to go ahead and take a seat." Amanda Evan's told them. She gave Lily a stern look. "I assume Lily is taking good care of your girls."
Lily looked pointedly at Mary, Dorcas and Marlene who nodded quickly.
"Yes."
"She's absolutely lovely." Dorcas smiled brightly.
"Mhm."
"But..." Mary started and Lily's eyes widened.
"Muffins coming right up Mary, dear." Amanda Evans smiled strolling towards the kitchen as the girls followed her.
"I told you she's a mind reader!" Mary whispered to both Marlene and Dorcas who giggled silently. Dinner with the girls was certainly not a quit affair. Mary who was never shy of conversation kept them all entertained with stories about her cousins wedding earlier that year. Apparently she had played a prank on her cousin that ended up becoming a very public affair in front of the entire wedding ensemble.
"-And then they ended up throwing all the flowers on Lydia who is allergic...so you can pretty much guess the rest."
Marlene shook her head, pushing her plate away. "And what of Miguel?"
"Oh god he completely lost it. He's very annoying and loves to do the opposite of what you tell him too. So I tell him the opposite of what I wan't him to do, hoping he does just that. Anyways this time for whatever reason he actually listened to what I told them and let them loose. It was terrible. Everyone had to run inside and...I hate bees." She finished shuddering.
"Well it's decided then. I'm never letting you plan my wedding." Marlene laughed. "Dorcas, it's all up to you I'm afraid."
Dorcas nodded.
"Oh Marly but I've already decided the type of dress and everything!" Mary cried looking crestfallen. She immediately turned to Lily. "Well I can always plan Lily's."
Lily nodded. "You're going to have to wait another 30 years."
Amanda Evans coughed. "Or sooner."
"Mum!"
"I'm just saying Lily dear you can't get married at 43..."
"Auntie Myrna did!"
"Auntie Myrna had her reasons."
"But-" Lily started. It was Dorcas who interjected in between asking how mad Mary's mum was about the incident that the conversation shifted.
"Oh don't get me started..." Mary sighed as laughter echoed around the Evan's kitchen once more. Yes, Lily smiled, it was definitely a good idea to invite her friends over.
After dinner Dorcas offered to stay and help with the dishes and Lily, Mary and Marlene too stayed for fear of looking bad in front of the brunette. Despite the four of them doing dishes it took half an hour(mostly because Dorcas kept talking about Myriad, not noticing her pile of wet dishes that she was supposed to be drying.) It took the girls an extra 15 minutes to help a flustered Dorcas as she blushed while Marlene and Lily made snide comments about Myriad. Mary chimed in defending Dorcas and her romantic endeavors.
"She's in love, let her be."
"Please. She hasn't even met Myriad." Marlene laughed turning to Lily. "That's like saying Lily is in love with John Lennon."
Lily paused, surprised at the blond. "Petunia's claimed him. I'm more of a George Harrison."
"Who?"
"The Beatles?" Lily repeated, confused now. "John Lennon, George Harrison, Ringo..."
"John Lennon is the producer of Sleakezy's hair potions." Marlene looked at Lily like she was crazy. "He was Mr. Potters partner before he became an Auror.."
"What?" Lily repeated suddenly confused that James Potter's dad used to sell hair potions and weirded out that the name Potter was beginning to pop up more and more than she wanted it too. For Merlin's sake they were on summer holidays...
"Oh Marlene," Dorcas shook her head as she set the last dry dish in the cabinet. "I always forget you don't listen to muggle bands. The Beatles are a very popular muggle brand- although I didn't know there was a wizard John Lennon either..."
"I didn't either." Mary shrugged.
"Yeah." Lily frowned. "Never mind then."
"No no," Marlene grinned a very Maryesque grin. "I want to know about this George Harrison. And Ringo! Who's that? Your lover?"
Mary laughed suddenly. "Please that would be Severus, obviously."
There was a silence that hung in the air after Mary uttered his name and Lily blinked. "We're just friends..." She set the last plate down and looked up at them. "Come one I'll show you The Beatles posters in Petunia's room."
Lily didn't remember the last time she stepped into Petunia's room so freely. Petunia usually kept the door shut with a "NO LILY ALLOWED' sign. (Her mom had of course discarded it before her friends had arrived.) The walls were a lighter purple than Lily remembered, but everything else was the same. The same immaculate room with Petunia's bed tidied up from the comforter to the pillows. Dorcas immediately squealed and launched herself on Petunia's prized beanbag chair. Lily felt a pang of jealousy watching Dorcas, Petunia never let her on the beanbag chair.
"Here they are." Lily pointed to the posters adorning Petunia's walls. "The Beatles."
"Oh." Marlene looked towards them thoughtfully. "They're hot."
Lily smiled at the blonde. "Petunia likes to think so too."
"Oh Morgana, it's totally us!" Mary said pointing to the poster of the four boys. "You, me, Dorcas and Marlene."
"Which one am I?" Lily asked curiously.
"George." Mary said obviously. "And Marlene can be John and Dorcas is Paul and I'm Ringo!"
"Why are you Ringo?" Dorcas asked. "I think you're more like Paul."
"Paul sounds so boring. Ringo is cool!" Mary protested. "Fine you can be John and Lily can be Paul. Marlene can be George."
"But I don't want to be George." Marlene pouted. "I want to be John, he's got nice hair."
"And I thought you couldn't get any more superficial." Lily rolled her eyes, teasing. She half-expected the blond to throw some smart comment her way but was surprised to see a smile instead. Unsure, Lily smiled back.
"I think-" Dorcas yawned suddenly. "I think I'm ready to crash."
"Now?" Mary asked. "But we haven't gotten to the sleepover part yet! And we've got to settle the Beatle debate too."
"The sleepover part?" Dorcas yawned. "I thought that was the sleeping part."
"No! We've got to share secrets over a fire and eat marshmallows and-"
"I don't think that's necessary Mary. Besides Petunia would never let us light a fire in her room." Lily spoke as she unrolled their sleeping bags in the calculated manner she had planned beforehand. Mary would be in the corner next to Lily. Dorcas and Marlene would be on either side of them- unless one of them wanted the bed.
Marlene laughed. "Sorry Mare, I've got to agree with Dork, I am tired."
"Fine." Mary sighed. "Can we at least share one secret?
"Mary," Dorcas yawned laying down. "Maybe not now-"
"I lied to Professor Grubby-Plank about the assignment on Vocavis Plethy. I actually turned in Gideon's project from last year." She smiled and looked at them.
"Mary!" Lily gasped shocked. She had wondered how Mary, who had been gossiping about The Marauders non-stop the week before the project was due, had finished it so fast.
"Your turn, Marlene." Mary grinned, obviously pleased with the shock registered on Lily's face.
"Mary!" Marlene sighed covering her eyes with her sleeping mask. "The mask is on. I need my beauty sleep."
"Just one secret." Mary blinked twice and smiled.
"Mary!"
"Fine...just one secret?"
"Lily?" Mary turned to the redhead, finally when the other had given up responding
"I don't have any secrets." Lily said politely.
"Sure you don't. I for one know that a certain male has caught your eye..." She smirked deviously. Lily's heart stopped. How...how had she known? She turned to the others but Dorcas was fast asleep as was Marlene- although under her mask no one could really know.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Lily finished. She turned to the letters she had brought back from her room.
Hey Evans why aren't you replying? Please tell me you're not busy doing homework?
Hey Evans please reply.
I can help you with homework. I'm James Potter. I know everything and my dad is an Auror.
Hey.
Please reply.
"Are you finally getting to those?" Mary asked noticing what Lily was doing. Lily shoved the letters behind her and nodded. "Yeah just school stuff. I want to be ready. Lucinda said third year was the hardest year for her."
Mary nodded and turned back to her book. Lily peered at the cover. Forbidden Love: Burned. Lily had long forgotten about the Forbidden series Mary had introduced her too. She had been so busy with The Holy Grail and then Gilmore's Gossiper that she had given up reading the romance novel entirely. Besides she thought the romance too cheesy for her taste.
"Is it good?" Lily asked, hoping to divert Mary's attention from Lily's certain male...
Mary nodded. "You would know if you read it."
"It's not my thing-romance." Lily explained.
Mary shrugged and laid back only to jump back up again and point to the window. Confused, Lily turned to see the owl return once more. Goddamn James.
She tore open the letter and threw it with the pile of his other letters. Mary looked at her curiously and Lily's mind scrambled to come up with another good excuse."It's just this school thing for-"
"What did James say now?"
Taken aback, Lily asked. "Ww-what?"
"I read them when you weren't looking." Mary said. "Sorry. I couldn't help it."
The little minx.
"He's just being annoying." Lily explained.
"Mhmm." Mary flipped a page.
"What do you mean mhmm?" Another page flipped.
"I just mean mhmm."
"Mhm means something." Lily pointed out.
"It does." Mary agreed.
Lily waited for her to explain, but she didn't. Finally she asked. "What does it mean?"
"You know who James reminds me of?" Mary asked confusing Lily.
"He reminds me of David."
"What?" Lily asked completely taken aback.
"And you're Julia."
"Why?"
"Because you're destined to be together!"
"Oh god, Mary!" Lily covered her ears. "Please never say that again."
"How long did you think you could hide it from me?" Mary asked setting her book down. "James Potter has caught your eye."
Lily almost smiled because she realized that Mary didn't know. She didn't know who it was and she thought it was...James. Lily almost laughed.
"I have no idea what you're on about." Lily laid down doing her best to hide her smile. Mary didn't know. Mary didn't know.
"It's going to happen!" Mary said. "Mark my words."
Lily scoffed blowing a strand of red hair out of her face. "As if." She turned back to the letter re-reading them, trying to make sense of why a twat like James would write her letters. They didn't talk much and when they did, things usually ended up burned or broken. She hated James Potter who bullied Severus and called her a 'freak'...
"Mary," Lily looked up at the dark ceiling as she asked. "What did you mean about Severus?"
The witch didn't respond and Lily let the question fade away into the darkness.
The Knights of Walpurgis.
Lucius Malfoy had introduced him and Severus was immediately fascinated. In his mind it was everything he deserved. He was a Prince- a pureblood, worthy of it, yet his bloody fathers name had ruined everything for him. He had been tainted with Snape. Severus Snape. Everything about the name was wrong. He was a Prince- a half-blood Prince but a Prince nonetheless.
And he was going to prove it.
He would show them how much he deserved to be a Knight, how worthy he was, how pure his blood was, how insignificant his Snape blood was...
"Sev."
All thoughts vanished as hie eyes met her startling green ones. Lily Evans.
Severus recalled every detail about her. Her red hair that fell 2 inches behind her shoulders, her green eyes that made him feel weak in the knees, her smile that reminded him of everything good and kind. He was reminded of the sunny days that began once he met her, memories of playing in the field behind the Snape house, memories he held onto whenever he heard bottle crashing on wood floor, followed by a woman screaming and a voice- an angry man's voice...
"Sev!"
Severus shivered in the sudden warmth that warmed him. Lily pulled away and looked at him- and Severus Snape knew in that instant that he was a goner. He was strong- but with her he wasn't.
"I thought I was going to have to search for you everywhere- why didn't you wait for me at the station? You know my parent's wouldn't have minded dropping you off either...Sev?"
"Mum wanted to see the station." Severus replied. He located a compartment and pulled Lily in. "There's no one in here."
"Alright." Lily took a seat across from him. "Why didn't you come over? I went by your house but no one opened the door."
Severus had heard the knocks. He had heard her cries and pleas to open the door but he silently sat against the door half wishing he would open the door, half wishing she would just leave.
"We were away on a trip." Severus lied easily. It was a skill that came to him easily, perhaps it was why he was a Slytherin.
"Oh." Lily nodded accepting his lie, just like every other lie he had spun on her. "Where did you go?"
"Norway." Severus lied again. "My grandparents live there."
Lily accepted this too. "Oh I didn't know you're grandparents were still alive. Mine aren't."
And so he watched her green eyes light up at the mention of a fake Norwegian Ridgeback that he had made up for the sake of making conversation with her. Her small laugh at the lie of meeting a banshee who had screamed at him for disturbing her screaming ground, his little lie about how his grandmother kept a small goldfish as a pet... She was fascinated and curious and kept asking all these questions that Severus scrambled to answer all at once. Sometimes he felt a twinge of guilt lying to her but as her green eyes smiled at him with fascination he wondered if all it took was a lie to make her happy...was it really a lie at all?
The train lurched forward sending Dorcas Meadowes to the floor and earning her giggles from the first year girls around the compartment. Dorcas looked up, her eyes groggy. She had fallen asleep and made a complete fool of herself. She flushed pink and scooted deeper in her seat, focusing her eyes on the scene outside. It was gray and stormy, rain blurring her view of Scotland, and yet she found it oddly satisfying.
"Are you okay?" One of the girls in front of her asked politely. Dorcas nodded numbly and turned her attention away from the girl, however she could still feel the other girls' gazes on her and stood up abruptly, feeling the need for fresh air. Her mind idly wondered if the train had an open back where she could soak up the rain. She wished her parents had dropped her to the station earlier so she could have met up with Marlene like she was supposed too. Instead she had been confined to a new compartment with first years. Marlene would have shut them up with one word and Mary would have instantly become friends with all them. Lily would have known what to say and Dorcas...she would have felt safe with them.
"Hey lumpy, where you going?" Dorcas looked up to see two tall boys surround her. Her palms became sweaty and she realized what a mistake it was to step out of the compartment.
"Excuse me, I need to get back to my compartment." She muttered channeling her inner-Marlene. She wrung her hands as she looked up at them.
The boys looked at each other and grinned. "You hear that Ed, she needs to get back to her compartment."
The boy, Edmund nodded, "well lumpy we would love to escort you to your compartment, but you see we're worried, we don't know if they make compartment doors in your size."
Don't cry. Don't cry. Dorcas chided herself but her eyes betrayed her, becoming moist by the second. "Oh don't cry," the other boy said. "We'll find you one, don't worry."
With that they prodded her in the same direction. Don't cry. Don't cry. They couldn't do anything to her. They couldn't. Surely someone would come and help her...she would find a way out.
"Here you go." The boy, Edmund grinned proudly at the door. "This door seems big enough."
Dorcas looked at the door unsure. Maybe it was just a broom closet, if train had that sort of thing, she could go in and charm her way out. Or perhaps it was something else... "My compartments back there- I think I can –" Dorcas started nervously.
"No need to thank us." They pressed, forcing her hand on the door. "Now go on."
Dorcas slowly opened the door coming face to face with the pouring rain, and before she could move back, the boys pushed her and shut the door behind her. She shivered as the unwelcome rain poured down on her. Her vision was becoming blurry by the second, her eyes a mixture of salty tears and rain-the door suddenly wrenched open and someone pulled her in.
Dorcas cried half sobbing half smiling at her savior, "I thought no one would be able to find me.
The boy nodded and shut the door. Dorcas blinked up at him, trying to sputter out the right words so she wouldn't look like an idiot. Then...he simply walked away. Dorcas just stood in the corridor, dripping wet, and unable to comprehend what had happened. She debated wether she should go after the boy and thank him when-
"Well, well," the boys had come back and were standing by the door, arms crossed. "Looks like this one is quite stubborn."
Dorcas regarded them with the air of one regarding an insect and looked up at the, chin up.
"Al, looks like this one doesn't seem to like us much." He pointed to Dorcas who raised her head higher. She wouldn't let these boys get to her. "We were just trying to help you lumpy."
"Maybe a little more time in the rain, will change that." They backed up ready to shut the doors. Dorcas could feel the rain soaking through her clothes and chilling her to the bone. Any longer and she would freeze. Without thinking she aimed a punch at the older boy, who staggered back slightly. He caressed his face with his thumb, slowly feeling the blood trickling from his nose.
"Feisty, are we?" Dorcas's eye's widened as they stepped closer to her. She could see a tiny gap where she could run, she was just the right size, but that would mean she would have to be fast. But before she could decide someone had grabbed one of the boys by the collar.
"Parkinson, Rosier, I thought I said not to bother the first years." His blond hair was tied back with a green ribbon and his pale eyes dwelled on her.
"I apologize for the inconvenience these two have caused." He pushed them away and Marlene glared at them as they scuttled off. The blond boy, ushered her deeper inside the train, had her dried off in less than a second, and introduced himself as a head boy by the name of Lucius Malfoy.
"I'm sorry about them." He told Dorcas once more. "Who have I just had the pleasure of helping?"
"Dorcas." Dorcas replied softly. "Dorcas Meadowes."
"Are you possible related to Draconia Meadowes, the potioneer?" The head boy asked looking down at her with renewed interest
Dorcas shook her head. "No, I don't believe so. My parents are muggles actually."
The boys lip curled and he nodded curtly to her before walking away. Dorcas looked around the corridor. She didn't recognize this part of the train...how would she find her compartment now? She wanted to curl up in a ball and cry again but she was determined to never become as hopeless and stupid as she had just been. It was after endless hours, or at least thats what it seemed like to Dorcas, that she spotted a familiar face.
"Mary!" Dorcas grinned waving to the dark haired witch who poked her head out of the compartment and waved towards her.
"Dork!" Mary smiled running towards her. "What compartment are you in? Have you seen Marlene? She's been looking for you by the way. I spotted Lily already but she's with Severus." Mary spoke fast and breathlessly yet there was a furiousness in her voice. "You haven't seen Micheal have you? He told me he would wait for me at the station but he never showed up..."
"Micheal?" Dorcas asked glad that Mary hadn't asked where she had been. It was a tale Dorcas didn't want to tell.
"Micheal Duke? You know the one who's always late? Dorc?"
Dorcas paled. She wanted to tell Mary. But what if he told Mary what happened? What if he told her how Dorcas had been shoved out in the rain like a hopeless fat pig she was.
Dorcas shook her head and lied. "No, I don't think I have."
"You know it's highly unlikely you'll find out anything that Mary MacDonald doesn't already know." Remus pointed out to Peter who scowled and moved back his ear from the compartment that he was eavesdropping on. Step 3 of 13.
"This is bloody confusing," Peter spluttered stepping towards Remus. "Why of all ways to give a gift did James and Sirius decide to do a giant treasure hunt on the train? Wouldn't it jus be simple to hand the gift over like a normal person would?"
"It's the 'Pettigrew birthday hunt'" Remus corrected making air quotes. "Besides," he continued "you're asking the wrong question. When do James and Sirius ever tell us what they're doing?"
"You're saying that like you're not in on this whole thing." Peter inquired looking towards Remus to see if he would react. Despite being a werewolf Remus was easy to read, almost like an open book. But Remus simply looked at Peter and shrugged indifferently.
Sighing Peter looked back to the map that James had left for them, along with a descriptive note telling them that they had planned this elaborate treasure hunt for Peter to find his birthday gift. There were 13 steps with the 13th step being his birthday gift and so far the first 2 steps had been disastrous. Peter had ended up stuck in a compartment of giggle first year girls where he had to find the correct girl in order to get the next clue. Peter had in fact chosen the wrong girl at first (apparently she wasn't the prettiest according to Sirius that had come up with the first task of finding the prettiest girl in the compartment) which resulted in him being doused in frog spawn (courtesy of the others girls in the compartment) until he found the right one. A small brunette by the name of Elena Redcroft. She led him to the next task which was to 'trick a snake.' It was not as Peter assumed having to do with Slytherins but in fact a real snake that James had conjured. Peter had narrowly avoided getting bitten before he managed to stun the snake whilst distracting it with a mouse. Which finally led him to step 3. Finding a secret no one knows.
"How the bloody hell am I supposed to do that?" Peter turned to Remus. "Where do I even start?"
Once again, Remus shrugged.
So Peter had to figure it out on his own.
Secrets. Secrets. Who did he know that would know a secret or have one?
Mary MacDonald was the first person that came to mind, and Remus had mentioned her earlier ...was she the one with the clue?
"Mary!" He decided sprinting towards the compartments where he would find her. He found her sitting in a compartment with and two older girls one that he recognized as Armonia Melody. The other was a tall dark haired Ravenclaw with sapphire eyes that looked at him curiously .With a heave he opened the compartment door and the four girls looked at him curiously.
"Mary." He spoke breathlessly. Remus appeared behind him a few seconds later, watching wordlessly. "I need the next clue."
Mary looked at him confused. "I'm sorry-what clue Peter?"
Peter blinked. No no NO! He had messed up- it wasn't Mary and now everybody was staring at him.
Mary let out a loud laugh suddenly before pulling out a slip of parchment teasingly. "You mean this?"
Peter made a grab for it, only to fall on the floor. The Ravenclaw girl helped him up, and he thanked her.
"Not so fast, Peter." Mary laughed. "In order to get this, I need something from you."
"M-me?"
Mary nodded. "A secret...a secret that nobody knows."
Peter blinked. A secret? To Mary MacDonald. Were they punishing him or giving him a gift, he wondered.
"Well Peter?" Mary smirked waving the parchment in the air.
Peter looked around the compartment where Dorcas shrugged and Armonia and the Ravenclaw looked at him with newfound interest. "In front of everyone?"
Mary looked around the compartment as if just realizing she wasn't alone. "Oh Dorcas won't say anything and Armonia's so sweet-and Aviva you'll keep it a secret right?"
Mary turned to Peter whose eyes widened. "Okay fine. You can whisper it to me."
And so with heavy steps Peter whispered his greatest secret to Mary MacDonald, once again wondering what James and Sirius were playing at. Perhaps he shouldn't have said it, because Mary didn't blink or react. Perhaps he should have kept quiet because then maybe the events that happened right after that wouldn't have happened, perhaps no one would have gotten hurt...
"Micheal Duke killed someone."
"I don't know much." Alyode Ogulwano told the others. "Just that she was the captain of the Hufflepuff team and a very very nice girl."
Derek Mercado laughed. "I read your description of her quite well Alyode, and your editor won't like it. I doubt we'll see it in the papers."
"Fortunately she's not the one holding up the Grail this year," Damion Skeeter replied flipping idly through The Prophet. "You're vice by the way." this was directed towards Alyode who chuckled eyes closed.
"Why is the ministry making such a huge debacle about it?" Nikita Zabini sighed prettily "Father was summoned back and forth all summer. They even had some friends of hers show up with testimonies." Nikita made a dangerous turn towards the only other girl in the compartment. "You were there weren't you, Emma?"
Rabastan turned to Emma Vanity interestingly. She was sitting to the far end of the compartment, eyes trained on the outside Scotland countryside.
"I was." She spoke boldly. "All the quidditch captains were."
"What did they ask you?" Nikita Zabini insisted. Though it was light, Rabastan could see the hunger in her eyes. What Nikita Zabini wanted, she got, making her one of the most dangerous people in Slytherin.
"Why don't you ask your father?" Emma replied finally still not acknowledging Nikita who looked appalled but turned to Rabastan. Rabastan had no doubt that Nikita had something planned for Emma later. It was never a wise idea to cross Nikita Zabini. "How was your summer, Rabastan?"
Nikita Zabini's gold eyes bored into his and Rabastan did his best to stare back. "Quite well. Met my sister-in-law again, always a surprise with her. Now she's officially part of the family of course." He laughed silently reliving the memory of the wedding. Bellatrix Lestrange had a habit of throwing heavy things around when she mad. Quite un-ladylike but then again there was nothing quite like Bellatrix Black, now Lestrange.
-I told you two to watch what you do this year." Lucius Malfoy's voice echoes right outside the compartment. He was yelling at the two 4th year boys who were standing still and looking down, ashamed. "I'm Head boy, meaning that everything you do gets back to me. Unless you want to end up like Hydrangea Summers I suggest you think twice before you act."
The compartment door slid open and Lucius Malfoy sauntered in looking quite frustrated. "Leave it to Rosier and Parkinson to cause trouble the year I'm head boy."
"I'll take care of it." Derek Mercado said automatically grinning. "I know exactly how to handle them- and Emma will make sure Edmund behaves if he wants to keep his spot on the team, right Emma?"
Emma Vanity stared outside the window, but didn't answer. Lucius gave her a long stare before throwing a curt nod towards Derek. In turn her greeted everyone in the compartment. "Derek, Rabastan. Nikita. Emma- where's Narcissa?"
Rabastan tried very hard not to look pleased with himself. He had called it, even before Rodolphus had- Narcissa Black, no doubt, was going to be Narcissa Malfoy one day.
"She's with the other 6th year girls," Nikita said looking down at nails. "I think I saw her with Ayesha a few minutes ago."
Lucius nodded and took a seat between Emma and Rabastan, who handed him the paper. They made light conversation, repeating the conversation earlier about the dead Hufflepuff girl, Maya Hillbard.
"Why would anyone hurt a Hufflepuff?" Lucius Malfoy wondered out loud, stroking his chin. "I don't remember any standing out. You sure our house isn't responsible for this?"
"I inquired. It wasn't us." Alyode confirmed. "Although it seems very plausible that Carrow could have possibly have something to do with it..."
"Romeo Carrow wouldn't be so stupid but it's plausible." Nikita Zabini laughed. "We all know what provokes Carrow. Women."
At this Emma Vanity stood up and walked out the compartment without a word. Rabastan blinked at the abrupt move but no one questioned it. Emma had been quite the entire ride, and she usually spoke- something was wrong, but no one would dare ask.
"Carrow has inexplicable taste in women...do you remember what he did to Anya Danvers last year?"
Rabastan didn't because he had just spotted someone walk past the compartment. He looked towards the other and excused himself before stepping out. Nikita eyed him for a second but he paid no attention.
"Ayesha!" Rabastan shouted skittering up to the pretty girl who halted as she heard her name. She turned around, her hazel eyes boring into his dark ones. Rabastan's breathe hitched as he looked at her but he finally regained his composure.
"Rabastan." Ayesha smiled. "Did you need something?"
Rabastan blinked- what had she said. She had said something.. "Sorry what?"
"I asked if you needed something?" Ayesha repeated looking at him.
"I uh- how are you?" Rabastan let out finally.
Ayesha blinked. "Good. I went to Finland and back like always."
"Right." Rabastan said. "To meet your cousins, was it Varsha and Genalia again?"
"Yes." Ayesha smiled. "Have I told you this story before?"
"Countless times." Rabastan nodded.
"My apologies." Ayesha laughed. "I'm sorry- you must get so bored."
"Never." Rabastan said quickly. Ayesha looked up at him, like she was seeing him for the first time. And then her fingers were on his forehead. "What happened, you've got a scar- did you get hurt?"
Rabastan felt the cool touch of her fingertips on his forehead where Bellatrix had gotten him with a rather large jewelry box. "I walked into something."
"It was her, wasn't it?" Ayesha laughed, again and again. "She always was the same, even when I was a first year."
It was her laugh, Rabastan decided, it was so wonderful and enchanting and sweet at the same time... Ayesha grinned at him in between laughs that she couldn't hold back.
"Sorry-it's just- another laugh. "Sorry- but didn't you need something?"
Rabastan paused. "Yes I- wanted to ask if you would think about- theres no pressure of course, but I'd love it if you- we I mean..."
Ayesha stopped laughing immediately. "Rab-"
"No, let me finish." Rabastan took a breathe. He had practiced all summer. He could do this. "I was going to ask- say- I mean-
"Please don't-" Ayesha spoke looking down. "You know I can't-"
"I don't care what she says- she can't stop-" Rabastan started steadying Ayesha by the shoulders and looking straight in her eyes. The very eyes that had smiled at him when he fell down his firecrab in Care of Magical Creatures, her laugh haunting him since then...
"Ayesha!"
Ayesha's eyes widened and she stepped back from Rabastan- breaking into a run towards Nikita Zabini. And when she left, Rabastan noticed she didn't look back.