Chapter 5- Complaints and Throwing Rocks
"Just my luck," Lily groaned, flopping down onto her bed. "Of all the boys in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw, she puts me with him. WHY?"
"Lily, be fair," Alice said reasonably. "You said yourself that it seemed like he'd grown up. Maybe he won't be so bad this year. He hasn't asked you out at all, has he?"
"No," Lily admitted reluctantly.
"And how many times did he ask you out on the first day of last year?"
"At least three." She sighed. "But he's still James Potter, and I still don't want to work with him."
"Your choices are rather limited, dearie," Morgan said. She smiled slightly. "And I'm sure Kaitlyn or Meredith would be happy to trade with you." Kaitlyn Scoder and Meredith Winter were the last two girls in Gryffindor and their year and the founders of the Marauders fan club. They were, well, stuck up to put it nicely.
"I don't want to help either one of them," Lily said, making a face as she sat up.
"True," Morgan agreed. "And it would be cruel to make even your worst enemy work with one of them. You can consider it practice. You have to meet with him for Head stuff too. Besides, he's a bloody genius when it comes to Transfiguration."
"That's the problem," Lily groaned. "I have to meet with him enough as it is. And he's going to be rubbing it in that he can do Transfiguration and I can't. How much torture-"
"Lily."
"Okay, not torture. But you know what I mean! What will I do if we argue all the time? He's a show off in Transfiguration as it is, I don't need him making fun of me because I can't turn a kettle into a turtle."
"I don't think-" Morgan started, but Alice gave her a warning look. "Never mind."
"Don't think what?" Lily asked suspiciously.
"Nothing," Morgan said. "It's just… Maybe you should try - at least a little. I mean, Ryan likes them well enough, doesn't she? And you get along well enough with Ryan, so they can't be all bad. That's all."
"But Ryan's known them her whole life," Lily said, "except for Peter, and you've heard how she talks about him."
"Or lack thereof," Morgan corrected.
"A the beginning of fifth year, you loathed her because she was friends with them," Alice reminded Lily.
Lily blushed slightly at the memory. "Okay, I admit, that wasn't too brilliant on my part. We're friends now though."
"Because?" Alice prompted.
"Because… we sat next to each other in Potions."
"Exactly!" Morgan exclaimed triumphantly. "There you go. It's just you and Ryan in Potions all over again. With definite differences, of course, but you know what I mean. It's just another Marauder-forced-sitting-arrangement... thing."
"But I didn't really trust her-" Lily started.
"Until she yelled at James and Sirius for attacking Snape," Alice finished for her. "Yes, we know. You realized they made her mad at times too. So maybe, if you give James a chance, it will turn out the same way it did with Ryan."
Lily sighed. "I guess you're right. I'll give him a chance. Not that I really have choice considering the circumstances."
"And now would be your golden opportunity since you have a meeting with him in thirty minutes," Morgan said cheerfully.
"I almost forgot," Lily said, standing up. She paused, frowning. "Where is Ryan?"
"Library, we think," Morgan said. "She said she had to meet Remus." She grinned. "And I, personally, hope that she figures something out this year. I'm perfectly willing to do all the matchmaking it takes that too."
"That's what you say about everyone's relationship, Morgan," Lily said, laughing slightly. "I think she would prefer you just stay out of it."
"I know she would. But it really doesn't matter anymore because I'm tired of having the male Marauders staring at us for one reason or another. So, therefore, I'm going to work to get at least one of them to stop staring."
Lily laughed again, her hand on the doorknob. "Good luck with that. I'll see you after the meeting."
"I don't know what she's laughing at," Morgan said as soon as the door shut. "She's next."
Alice laughed. "Don't tell me. Although, please, Morgan, don't start your matchmaking until after she's friends with him. It should work much better."
"A month then," Morgan said easily. "I'll give her a month. Then, if I have to, I'll be… friend-maker. Or something." Alice just shook her head and smiled.
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Name: Sirius Black
Looks: Dashingly Handsome
Position: Hogwarts' Most Eligible Bachelor/ Hogwarts' Most Handsome Man/- ("Sirius," Moony says a little threateningly.)
All right, all right. Sheesh, Moony. I'll tell it, just give me a minute. He's worse than a girl sometimes- Oi, just kidding Moony! No need to get your knickers in a twist! You see, Moony over here says I have a story that needs to be told so the you will understand the conversation the lovely ladies just had. Not that we ever heard that conversation. We weren't actually there or anything. Well, physically, we weren't there. But that's beside the point, right, Wormtail? It's not our fault Rye left her mirror out on the table where we could hear everything.
Anyway, I think it was right after one of our OWLs or something. Prongs and I were just having a little fun, and Evans tried to stop us and basically squashed Prongsie's pride (again) in the process. So Prongs was taking his frustrations out on Snivellus.
"Right," Prongs said furiously. "Right." There was a flash of light and Snivelly was hanging upside down again. "Who wants me see me take Snivelly's pants off?"
The crowds watching started to cheer, but they stopped when someone said, "James, put him down." Moony even put his book down when he heard that. Everyone moved out of the way to show Rye standing there. I think I even saw Moony smirking when he saw her, but we all know why that was- Just kidding! Kidding! Moony, you can put the wand down now!
Prongs just looked at her. She looked kind of, well, angry? "Come on, Rye, don't-"
"Put him down," she said through clenched teeth. Her hand was kind of shaking too. I think Prongs is the only one that's ever seen her like that (besides in the mornings, but she just cusses you out in some other language. She doesn't actually get violent).
"This should be interesting," Moony muttered. I agreed. Angry Wheat was very interesting.
"Remus, do us all a favor and shut up," Rye snapped without looking at him. Moony shrugged and went back to his book, trying to not grin.
This is where I tried to step in. It was really getting out of hand. I mean, no one questions us. We're the Marauders. ("Cocky much, Padfoot?" Moony asks.) No one besides Evans questions us. ("I think so," Wormtail pipes up.) Well, publicly anyway. ("Now that's more like it," Moony says.) So we couldn't ruin our reputations by being questioned by one of our own.
"Rye, he's-" Well, I would have stopped it, but her wand and her hands started sparking. You would jump back if her wand started sparking at you too. There's a reason her nickname's Fireball ("Just be happy Ryan's not here."). Yeah, I know, she hates it. She thinks it's too kinky and won't let us call her that. Ever. But I'm sure- ("Don't finish that.") Right, never mind.
Prongs sighed and let Snivelly drop. It's probably for the best; those poor people would be scarred for life if Prongs had pulled his pants down.
"You can thank me later," Rye snapped.
"Why should I?" Snivelly asked coolly.
"Because I just saved your arse," she spat.
He made a big deal about getting his wand and getting up until her wand sparked again. As soon as he left, Wheat turned to everybody watching. "Don't you all have somewhere else to be?" she snapped.
Moony was snickering the entire time they were clearing off. You've got to hand it to her, though. The only other person I know that can make a crowd clear that fast is Minnie. ("Sirius, it's Professor McGong- Oh, forget it.")
As soon as everyone else was gone, she turned to me and Prongs. "What the hell did you two think you were doing?!"
"Give me a minute to get used to the pissed off Rye," I said. And you know what, I think she almost cursed me. She gave me the coldest glare I've ever seen. And that includes all the ones I've gotten from Evans. Man, when she has mood swings, she really has mood swings.
"There is a big difference between defending yourself and being a bully," she hissed, shoving her wand in her pocket. I nearly thanked her for it too, those sparks weren't pretty. I think her hand was still sparking a little bit, but her hands aren't as scary as her wand. "And James, you complete and total idiot! We had just convinced Lily to give you a chance and then you went and you BLEW it! And you know something? I can't say that I blame her for turning you down this WHOLE, ENTIRE YEAR!!!" Ouch, harsh. Not that I said that, I enjoy having a head, thankyouverymuch. "Urg!" She turned and stormed into school.
Prongsie was looking kind of sick. "She was going to give me a chance?"
"I think we need to get Rye away from Evans," I said. "I think she's rubbing off on her." I wasn't trying to be insensitive or anything, I was just trying to get his mind off it. I was trying to help. I guess he didn't want my help then.
What was the point to that story? Oh, yeah, so Evans started to trust Wheat. Or something like that. Amazing that Prongs doesn't hate her. Rye, I mean. No, well, both of them really. Hey, Wormtail, are you hungry? ("Kind of.") Let's go get something from the kitchens, I'm starved…
-Padfoot
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"I hate this," James said, throwing a rock as hard as he could towards the center of the lake.
"You should be happy," Sirius said, watching him.
"So? I still hate it."
"That was a good skipping rock," Sirius said lightly as James threw another one, vaguely wondering if there was anyway he could convince James to chuck a rock at the annoying second years sitting a few yard away.
"Now I won't be able to do anything without her thinking I'm showing off," James continued, ignoring him. "It'll never get done, and then she'll go and blame me for it." He sighed and tried to skip a rock. It only bounced twice before it sunk.
"Bad luck, Prongs," Sirius said sympathetically. James wasn't sure if he was talking about the rock or Lily. It was probably the former, but he let himself assume it was the latter. "But couldn't you use this as a chance to show her you aren't a prick or whatever it is you aren't trying to be?"
"In theory," James muttered darkly. "Like I said, everything I do will be showing off. Like she never shows off in Charms. I swear, I said hi to her earlier and she glared at me. Glared. I didn't even do anything, and she glares at me for saying hello."
"Then why don't you just give it up?"
There was a long pause while James tossed a rock up in the air a few times, catching it every time. He threw it before turning to Sirius. "You know what, Padfoot? I honestly have no idea."
There was another pause before Sirius said, "You know what I think your problem is, Prongs?"
"No."
"Too bad, I'll tell you anyway." Sirius grinned. "You listen to Moony and Wheat too much. Think about it, the two of them have fancied each since we were, what, six?"
"Eight," James corrected, smiling slightly.
"Alright, since we were eight, give or take a year or two. And look at where they are. Nowhere at all. It'd be hard to say which one's worse off."
"Who, Rye or Moony?"
"No, you or Moony. You and Evans hate each other, so it's one of those `worship from afar' things." James glared at him, but Sirius just grinned. "But with the two of them, they talk to each other, but they can't do anything. Won't do anything. Personally, mate, I think you're in the better position."
"Yeah, just don't tell Moony that." James frowned. "Where are they, anyway? Where's Wormtail?"
"Wormy's still in the kitchens, last I heard," Sirius said easily. "Moony and Rye are meeting in the library. To work on their project."
James snorted. "This is Remus and Ryan we're talking about. They probably are working on their project. Really working on their project. Their Transfiguration project, you git." James looked at his watch. "Hey, I'll see you later, Padfoot. I've got a meeting."
"With the lovely Miss Evans, I presume," Sirius said, raising an eyebrow.
James smacked the back of Sirius' head as he walked by. "And Minnie too, I do believe. See you."
"Say hello to Evans for me!"
&-&-&-&-&
"She'll crack first."
Remus looked up, confused but not really surprised. She had a bad habit of suddenly changing the subject to something that would seem random to anyone but her. She was usually completely willing to explain, though. "Pardon?"
Ryan looked up too, grinning. She knew he was confused, but she simply repeated, "She'll crack first.
"Who?" he asked, still trying to understand what she was talking about.
"Lily. She'll crack first. Before James. He won't argue, but she'll start it."
Ah. "How do you know?"
"A little birdie told me," she said, grinning.
Remus chuckled. That was simply her way of saying `I just predicted the future.' "Did the birdie tell you when this would happen?" he teased.
"No. But I could find out if you really wanted to know. I just ran into a bit of a wall and I'm too lazy to push past it."
"A… wall?" he asked, slightly confused.
"Yup. A wall. Something that wouldn't let me get more information. Nothing good is on the other side, usually, so I don't bother. Takes a lot of work to push past them anyway."
"Er… Right." Sometimes he really had no idea what she was talking about. But there was one thing he was sure of. Having the powers of the Phoenix was a lot better than being a werewolf.
"Don't," she said absently, looking back down at her homework. "You're doing it again, and you shouldn't. There are some disadvantages to mine too, thank you."
"Not until October, though, right?" he asked, changing the subject slightly.
She nodded. "The middle's on a Saturday. Probably the Saturday of our first match, just my luck. But, yeah, not until October. The-"
"Twenty-second," he finished for her. "It starts on the twenty-second. The middle is the twenty-ninth."
She nodded. "You're luckier, in that respect. You only have one day. Three days, if you want to compare it to mine. Mine lasts five times longer than yours."
"Yours has good parts, though."
It wasn't a new discussion. Ryan and Remus, whenever they were by themselves, usually ended up getting back around to it. Remus was `at his worst' for only one night a month. Three nights in three months if, as Ryan had said, you wanted to compare it to hers. Having the powers of the Phoenix meant that Ryan was weak for about two weeks every three months (AN- cookies to anyone who can figure out why!).
She let out an exaggerated sigh and looked up at him again. "Don't. I'm not arguing with you about this anymore," she added, pretending to be stern, but Remus could see the corners of her mouth were turned up. "But," she grinned, "that's just counting the extras. You wouldn't believe the things I go through just for being a girl."
He laughed slightly. "Alright. I really don't want to know." They lapsed back into silence for a few minutes before Ryan heaved another sigh.
"I really don't like Potions at all," she said. Remus chuckled. "Although," she continued thoughtfully, "some good things did come out of Potions. Not the actual class, though, just the seating arrangement." He smiled and shook his head.
"Don't you think you should be working then instead of complaining?"
"Yes, mum," she teased, sticking her tongue out at him before going back to work.
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