“Yeah, why not?” Vika replied, flipping to the next page in Witch Weekly. “It could be fun.”
Sirius had just asked her whether she’d mind remaining at Hogwarts for the holidays, as per Lily and James’ request.
“Excellent,” Sirius said, sitting down beside her, and being careful not to jostle Adriana in the process. “Though I am going to miss Mrs. Potter’s pumpkin pie; it’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten.”
Hannah, who was sitting across from the pair opened her mouth to comment, but decided not to, as there were young children around.
“Ask her to send some, then.”
But Sirius’ thoughts were long past pumpkin pie. He had jumped up from his seat and was looking around wildly, trying to locate something. He didn’t seem to find it, so, without explanation, he took off towards his dormitory, leaving Vika and Hannah to stare after him.
“Any idea?” Hannah asked.
“None whatsoever.”
___
“Sirius whatever-your-middle-name-is Black! We are not mailing the babies to Mrs. Potter so we can go to a club for a night!” Lily had jumped down Sirius’ throat before Hannah, Vika, or any of the other Marauders had a chance to.
“But-”
“I don’t care if you’ve knit them all hats to keep them warm during the flight!”
Sirius sighed and pouted.
“Are you really that daft?” Vika had gravitated towards Sirius, and was in disbelief that he could really be that stupid. She was not, however, trying to break everyones’ ear drums, as Lily had been; partially because, more than anything, she was amused.
“I thought it was a good idea,” he said earnestly.
“I’m sorry, it’s not.”
“Oh well. I’ll just organize another fun activity. At Hogwarts. Like the boring kids we are.”
“You do that.”
Sirius got up from the couch, sighing, and sauntered away, back to his dormitory to plan. Lily was still shooting sparks from her eyes. James was picking his nose.
“Don’t do that, mate,” Remus advised. “You look like a little kid.”
James quickly pulled his finger from his nose, and when Remus wasn’t looking, wiped it on his shoulder.
___
“Good bye, everyone! Have a lovely holiday!” As the majority of Hogwarts rushed aboard the Hogwarts Express to go home for the holidays, Sirius insisted that everyone go see them off. Unfortunately for him, no one wanted to go.
Vika had grudgingly followed him. “Someone has to make sure you don’t do anything stupid,” she explained. “Besides, as the mother of your fake-child, I’m pretty much obligated to put up with your stupidity.”
So, as Sirius stood, excitedly waving at his peers, Vika stood beside him, her arms folded.
“Come on, Vika, be excited!” Sirius cried.
“Wooo,” Vika said colorlessly, twirling her fingers in the air.
“Fun sucker,” Sirius accused.
Vika only smiled and threw her arm around Sirius’ shoulder.
It’s hard to believe that less than a month ago, I was friendless, Vika thought. Wow, that makes me sound like a hermit.
Sirius tilted his head, resting it on Vika’s arm. I can’t believe I was never friends with Vika; how did we never hit it off before?
“Come on, Viking, let’s get some dinner.” Sirius and Vika turned their backs on the departing train and started back to the castle; the feast would be starting shortly, and their friends would already be down in the Great Hall.
Vika shivered as a gust of wind blew snow at her. Sirius noticed for the first time that she was wearing only a t-shirt and jeans.
“You absolute nutter!” he cried. “Aren’t you freezing?!”
Vika shrugged her shoulders, but the effect was ruined as she shivered again. “Here,” Sirius offered, taking his jacket off and throwing it around Vika’s shoulders. “Better?”
Vika smiled. “Yeah,” she admitted. “But aren’t you cold?”
“Nah,” he insisted. “I’m a boy, we don’t get cold.” As the pair continued up to the castle, Sirius kept in step behind Vika, rubbing his hands up and down her arms in another attempt to keep her warm.
They arrived in the Great Hall to an . . . interesting sight. Carla (Peter’s partner) and Lily were staring at Remus, Peter and James as they awkwardly shuffled up and down the Gryffindor table in bad imitations of runway models. The eight were the only Gryffindors that remained for the holiday; there was a small handful of students from the other three houses.
As soon as Sirius saw what was going on, he ripped the buttons on his collared white shirt, so that half of his chest was displayed in a very model-y way. Then, he tore at his jeans for a bit; everyone was quite surprised to see Sirius’ talent for ripping jeans - it looked just as if he had bought them that way.
He bounded up on the table, taking his rightful place with the Marauders.
They continued to strut about there for a while, but after not even a minute, Professor McGonagall came and called everyone’s attention to the food that had appeared on their plates.
The modeling sure ended fast.
___
“Ugh, I’m stuffed,” Vika complained, as they trudged back up to the empty Gryffindor common room after the feast.
“What are you talking about?” Sirius protested. “I ate three times as much as you did ”
“I’m a girl,” Vika pointed out. “My stomach is smaller.”
“So?”James inserted himself into the conversation. “I know this girl, her name’s Anastasia; she can eat just as much as any of us guys.”
“Sounds like a cow,” Hannah said. But of course, Hannah would say that. She ate healthily, like a bird, and always kept in shape.
“Nah, she’s pretty chill,” James insisted.
Hannah shrugged her shoulders in response and they kept walking until Vika leaned against a wall. “Honestly! This is so much food.”
“Oh, stop complaining,” Peter said, smiling. “At least you’re not starving.”
Vika nodded fairly. “Point well taken.”
Vika began to walk again, but Sirius stopped her. He crouched down a bit and said, “Your chariot awaits, Vika.” Gesturing to his back.
“No, thanks,” she said laughing. “Because I wouldn’t puke my guts up if you ran around with me on your back or anything.”
“Suit yourself.” He settled for walking beside her instead. However, Vika and Sirius both jumped to the side just a tad when their hands brushed.
Woah. Holy shit. What’s going on here? she thought.
Sirius had similar thoughts. Woah, that feeling was . . . Odd?
Behind them, Lily smirked. “So, you’re sure the babies will still be alright by the time we get back to the common room?” she asked James, her hands on his shoulder.
“Yeah,” he said, a bit dazed as he looked into Lily’s eyes. “They were all sleeping. They’ll be fine.”
___
“Sure, James, sure. ‘They were all sleeping. They’ll be fine.’ Famous fricking last words.” Sirius stood with his arms crossed, shaking his head at the scene before him.
Apparently, magical babies were more, well, magical than real babies. The allegedly sleeping babies had somehow torn apart the common room. The couches were overturned, there were ashes from the fireplace all over the room, and ink bottles were spilt on every piece of furniture. The house elves, who had come up to the common room to tidy up while everyone was at the feast, were somehow plastered to the walls.
It was highly unlikely that it had been those babies that had caused the havoc, but, who else could it have been?
“Damn, those are some destructive babies,” James observed. “Alright, I’ll take care of this.”
Tip #64: Take charge of a bad situation and fix it. WARNING: Only attempt this if you are capable of not screwing up!
He pulled out his wand (not that wand) and cleared his throat.
Here goes nothing, he thought.
In five minutes flat, James had managed to clean up the ink spills, right the couch, vanish the ashes, and free the house elves. Everyone stared at him, clearly impressed.
“Wow, James,” Lily remarked.
James stood there, smiling broadly at his seven mates. “See - I’m not a total screw up.”
Lily walked over to James and took his hand. “Aww, James, I never thought you were a total screw up . . . I just thought that you were an arrogant, bullying toe-rag.”
James raised an eyebrow. “And that was supposed to make me feel better?”
Lily cringed and then began to laugh. “Well, it was, but that sort of back-fired, I think. But . . . I know a way to make it up to you . . .
“James, next time we have a Hogsmeade trip, will you go with me?”
“Awww.” Everyone in the room cooed at the cute almost-couple.
James looked down at Lily, who was smiling shyly, and looking back up at him with her vibrant, green eyes. “No! No, no, no, no, no!”
If the Marauders were shocked at James’ response, it was nothing compared to Lily, who looked like she might’ve been about to break down into tears.
When James realized what he had done, he immediately starting tripping over his words, trying to correct his error. “No! No, that’s not what I meant! I mean - I just meant that I was supposed to ask. I’m the bloke! And I’ve been asking you forever! You have to say yes to me!”
Of course, after James had hastily explained himself, running his hand through his already-static hair and trying to cover up his steady blush, Lily smiled again. “Fine, James. Then, you ask me.”
He (and every other person in the room) breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh. Okay - good. Lily, will you go to Hogsmeade with me; pretty please, with a cherry on top?”
“Yes,” Lily agreed, much to the squealing of Hannah and Vika and the cat-calls of the Marauders. “Yes, James, I will finally go out with you.”
A/N: Hehe. Any readers of Polychromatic will probably notice the little cameo that was made in this chapter. Just so you don’t get confused, this has absolutely nothing to do with Polychromatic, I just couldn’t resist mentioning Anna.
A/N2: So, it’s been quite a while since I’ve updated this story, but when I went back to edit a few typos in the past chapters, I felt the need to finish this chapter, which has been sitting in my Word for at least a month, I believe. :D
Printer Friendly Version
