Rating:
PG-13
House:
Riddikulus
Characters:
Dean Thomas Lavender Brown Parvati Patil Seamus Finnigan
Genres:
Humor Mystery
Era:
Multiple Eras
Spoilers:
Philosopher's Stone Chamber of Secrets Prizoner of Azkaban Goblet of Fire
Stats:
Published: 01/02/2002
Updated: 01/02/2002
Words: 11,668
Chapters: 1
Hits: 1,538

Enterprises of a Lipgloss Loving Gryffindor

Claire Julius

Story Summary:
Well meaning, if somewhat shallow and inept, Lavender Brown pairs up with her best friend Parvati Patil to defeat the mysterious Anti-Gryffindor, but things, alas, are not as they seem...

Posted:
01/02/2002
Hits:
1,538
Author's Note:
The following people contributed insults for Parvati to say (some of them were used for Pansy! ^_^): Cairnsy, Fallen Angel, and Topaz. Thanks, Cairnsy, Fallen Angel, and Topaz! I got a lot of my character names from http://www.virtue.nu/misanthrope/names/ and babynamer.com Thank you so, so much to Arabella of the awesome sugarquill.com for beta reading this! Her comments were so valuable and helpful to me and this story and I really appreciate the time she took to read this story, especially as it's a bit long.

Enterprises of a Lipgloss Loving Gryffindor

Lavender didn't remember exactly which day it was of her month long visit to Parvati that the inspiration for Team Chocolate Frog had sparked in their minds... It had been a shared tug of duty at first that had evolved into a series of conversations between the two... You-Know-Who had returned and, from the owls they'd gotten, their fellow Gryffindors seemed to be a bit out of spirit. But what could they do about it? And then suddenly it had seemed so easy that they had almost wondered why they were the first ones to think of it... But of course, they were the best ones for the job. They would form a team of people to cheer up and protect the Gryffindors! And, of course, they would on the team. They were the best two divinators in their year (well, okay, so being good at divination didn't have that much to do with anything, but still) and in the top portion of their class, if lagging behind more obsessive students like Hermione... And besides that, they were rather "nice girls, at least in most matters... And wasn't it always "nice girls" that accomplished this sort of task? So declarations had been made, schemes had been devised, and Miri Norton, the daughter of a family friend of the Patils who was in the year below Lavender at Hogwarts, had been enlisted as secretary... They spent the rest of their summer poring over Muggle books: the well known and helpful "How to Win Friends and Influence People" and "The Power of Empathy," as well as the less well known "Making Friends With Complete Gits: A Beginner's Guide" and the less helpful "Curious George and the Dump Truck." And when school started again in two weeks, they would be ready. But first they had a short trip to take...




Olivia Paredes was a robe maker with a mission. Well, actually she wasn't... She just told the customers that to distract them from drinking up all the complimentary tea and pumpkin juice, but, nonetheless, she was a rather good robe maker- in fact, she fancied herself one of the best in London- though of course she never told anyone this. Today had been a quiet day in her shop, less eloquently known as the second room in her flat. A few fittings for school robes, a couple of pick ups... Nothing out of the ordinary. But in few minutes she was expecting two young ladies who had been rather reluctant to discuss what exactly they wanted when they had met her at the Torres' garden party. And, if she wasn't mistaken, they had just exited from a Muggle taxi and were preparing to climb the rather steep stairs that led up to her flat. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door.

Olivia opened the door, and found her self face to face, as is customary when one opens doors that someone has knocked on, with her young customers. They looked about fifteen, which was probably right, as, -and Olivia was rather proud to know such a detail as this- they were starting their fifth year at Hogwarts. Both were dressed in sunglasses and trench coats. They removed their sunglasses, allowed their eyes to meet Olivia's, winked, and then dissolved into giggles.

"Er," said Olivia. "How are you?"

The girls murmured something obligatory as they took off their trench coats and followed Olivia into her "shop," where they took a seat on the small couch. They were both about the same size and had gone to great pains to assure that they looked as similar as they could. Both wore ordinary red robes and had their hair cut to chin length.

The girl on the left had very pale, goldish hair and large blue eyes. She looked slightly nervous, but was placating herself with a large bag of sweets from her handbag. She nudged the other girl, pointed to their trench coats, which they had hung on Olivia's coat rack, and burst into giggles.

The other girl had chocolate brown skin, large brown eyes, and a handbag identical to her friend's in everything but color. Her black hair was slightly crimped, giving the impression it had been worn for a long time in a braid of some sort. Which was probably right if she knew the Petals, or whatever their names were... Olivia was never much at names...

"ER, so," said Olivia when the girls' giggling had subsided slightly, "what

can I do for you, ER, Patty and Violet?"

"Parvati and Lavender," corrected the dark haired girl none too politely.

"ER, yes," said Olivia. "What can I do for you?"

The two girls made elaborate gestures and finally the dark haired girl, Parvati, leaned forward in a confiding manner. "You see, we're on mission," she said, unknowingly stealing Olivia's main cost reduction strategy. "There've been tough times at Hogwarts and a lot of our fellow students are a bit wrapped up on this Voldemort fighting deal. We want to raise Gryffindor's spirits! We're Team Chocolate Frog and we want to make a difference! So you see, we'll be needing robes..."

"Ah," said Olivia supportively. "You've come to the right place, girls!"

"Ah, good!" said Lavender. "You see, the address you gave us got pumpkin juice spilled on it and we really couldn't be quite sure whether it was Pine Street or Vine Street you lived on, and when you opened the door we were nearly sure that it was you, but there have been some nasty coincidences with twins living on similar sounding streets and such and until now... Ow, Parvati, stop jabbing me in the stomach with your elbow!"

"We'd like them in white, please," said Parvati, smiling sweetly. "And with 'Team Chocolate Frog' printed on the back. And could you have them done by next week or so?"




"Are you nervous, too?" Lavender asked confidingly, leaning on the window as they sat waiting for their friends in one of the compartments of the Hogwarts Express.

"Of course not!" said Parvati, in a reassuring manner. "We'll do great... Two sweet, friendly girls, our depressed housemates who obviously need us... It will be easy!"

Lavender considered this. "Well, I guess so," she said, in a manner that implied exactly the opposite. She paused. "It was rather nice of Miri to agree to be our secretary, wasn't it?"

Parvati nodded. "It isn't entirely an unfair bargain though..."

Lavender sat up at this. "Bargain?"

"ER, yes," said Parvati. "Don't worry about it though..."

"What type of bargain?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing important," Parvati said dismissively, "I just promised Miri

someone.. ER, something for her service. Just a trifle, nothing concerning you

of course, Lavender, ER, dearest..

Parvati never called her "dearest. "What did you give her, Parvati?"

"Oh, hardly anything... Really, don't worry about it, La..."

"What, Parvati?" demanded Lavender, her already high pitched voice making an almost miraculous leap of an octave.

"Dean," Parvati mumbled.

"Dean?" gasped Lavender. "But, Parvati, he's my boyfriend!"

Parvati took sudden interest in floor of the compartment. "Well, perhaps she'll settle for Seamus..."

Lavender gasped again. "No, Parvati! She can't have Seamus! He's mine!"

A look of bafflement crossed Parvati's face. "But, you said..."

As if by magic (or perhaps just a Plot Device?) Dean and Seamus burst into the compartment.

"Hi, Lavender, sweetheart!" they exclaimed and each kissed her on a cheek. The stopped, glanced at each other, and then at Lavender.

"Bugger," said Lavender.

Parvati shook her head sadly. So much for the "nice girl" factor.




"Could you pass the marmalade, Lavender?" asked Parvati, taking two slices of toast from the platter. It was the breakfast of their second day back to Hogwarts, and Parvati, Lavender, and their want-to-be-minions were more interested in eating than in getting their timetables.

Lavender passed the jar to her. "I wonder what sort of house Dean would like to live in," she said wistfully.

"Probably one in the shape of a soccer ball!" Seamus answered, ignorant of any allusion to co-inhabitance or matrimony. "You should see his room! There are West Ham posters all over the walls! And he even has a West Ham bedspread!"

"What I don't get, Dean," Parvati said firmly, turning to face him, "is why it's called West 'Ham.' Especially now that that tall bloke's on the team. Doesn't he only eat kosher food or something?"

But Dean was gazing into the distance, his eyes fixed on a paled haired girl at the Slytherin table.




Meanwhile, the subject of Dean's adoration had devoted herself to comparing timetables with two of her Slytherin year mates, Elaine and Miki.

"It's rather silly how we compare our timetables every year when we know they'll always be the same except for Arithmancy and such!" laughed Miki.

"No one asked you to join us, Moon," Elaine responded coldly, passing her schedule to Pansy.

Miki backed away, slightly hurt.

Pansy studied the schedule. "Ouuu, Elaine!" she exclaimed. "We've got all our classes together again!"

"Ah, good!" said Elaine. "I do hope Jordan and Blaise have dropped Care of Magical Creatures like they said would, though. They're so annoying when they're around Draco; a class without them would be a treat!"

Pansy nodded. There was a pause.

"Hey, look!" said Miki, pointing at Dean. "There's some Gryffindor bloke staring at you!"

"Ugh, and he's a Mudblood too!" Elaine shuddered, ignoring Miki's "Don't curse, Elaine!." "Oh, I'm so sorry for you, Pansy!" She patted Pansy on the shoulder, her touch lingering ever so slightly.




Dean was fairly certain that his somewhat crush on Pansy Parkinson was nothing more than that. Pansy was pretty, of course, in a blond, broad nosed sort of way. But she was also a prejudiced, gossiping liar, certainly not qualities that anyone sane would look for in a girlfriend. But the masses had never considered Dean sane...

But no, Dean was certain that he neither liked nor loved Pansy. And the fact that he fancied her was surely just a sign of how low his life had sunk...




"Is there anything wrong, Lavender?" asked Parvati, after her best friend had run weeping hysterically in their dorm and flung herself onto Parvati's bed.

Lavender nodded, her sobs subsiding slightly.

"Ah, good," said Parvati, relieved. "You'll get off my bed then?"

"I nodded, you insensitive, optically-challenged jerk!" snapped Lavender, sitting up and shooting a disgruntled glare at Parvati.

"Well, I'm sorry, I thought you shook your head!" responded Parvati. She sighed. Normally she would have been more sympathetic. Normally she would have tried to comfort her friend and coax her into feeling better with oblations of sweets and lipglosses. But, as normally as she had succeeded in acting towards Lavender during the past few days, she still rather upset about Lavender dating both Seamus and Dean. It wasn't that she disapproved. Parvati would have done the exact same thing in Lavender's situation and she recognized this. But it just seemed unfair, completely unfair, that Lavender should be dating two people, when she, Parvati, the most, in her unbiased opinion, beautiful, attractive girl in the entire year, had no one to date at all. Not even an offer! She couldn't understand it... Why did everyone seem to fancy Lavender and not her? But Lavender seemed genuinely distressed... "Okay, then, what's wrong, Lavender?" Parvati asked finally.

"Miri quit!" Lavender replied, in a sniffley sort of way. "She said that if she couldn't have Dean or Seamus that she wouldn't be secretary! Oh, Parvati, I thought she loved us! I thought she loved me!" Lavender began crying again.

"Oh, so Miri fancies you, too, now!" responded Parvati bitterly. Lavender

stopped crying abruptly and started to say something. "Sorry," said Parvati

quickly. "ER, got a bit carried away there... That's really too bad, Lavender.

But don't worry, we'll manage together, with friendship and, ER, teamwork and

such."



It was the evening of the day after Miri had quit, and Lavender was decidedly suspicious. Parvati was acting very odd. Just that morning, Lavender had caught Parvati kissing her own reflection. Now Lavender was quite fond of her best friend Parvati, and though, in all honesty, modesty wasn't among one of Parvati's virtues, this was a bit immoderate.

"ER, Parvati," Lavender had asked, "just out of curiosity, of course, why

did you just kiss your reflection?"

Parvati had simply smiled in the most patronizing fashion and had proceeded to pat Lavender on the head.

Lavender had never been patted on the head by someone so close to her own size before.

Currently, Lavender was sitting in a chair with Parvati in the Gryffindor common room. Dean and Seamus were sitting on the floor below, playing a soul-stirring game of Exploding Snap House. Well, as soul-stirring as such games generally got.

"Well, ta TA, off to study!" exclaimed Parvati, as the editor of this story

pondered whether there was some sort of motive for this or if the writer had

simply written Parvati horrendously out of character.

"So," said Lavender conversationally, "Parvati's finally cracked..."

Seamus looked up at her, grinning slightly. "I believe we three have been set up, Lavender," he said quietly.

"Oh," replied Lavender. "Bugger." Silence made its cameo. "Hey, Dean, Seamus, I'm sorry about that whole going out with both of you deal. Rather unfair of me, I admit."

"That's okay," Seamus and Dean both replied. Silence made another cameo, now confident that it had been mentioned in almost as many fics as Simon Branford had, and Dean and Seamus added cards to the Exploding Snap Card House in turn.

As Seamus placed one of his last cards on, the card house exploded, singeing his eyebrows.

"I win," Dean informed Seamus coolly. "Want to play, Lavender?"

"Sure," she replied. And all was well.




Niamh Kavanagh let out a sigh as squeals obviously belonging to Parvati and then kissing noises erupted from the Gryffindor table. "Ah, it seems that Parvati and Dean have finally gotten together," she said, amused.

Cho Chang glanced over at where the Gryffindor fifth years were sitting, mildly

interested. "ER, no, I don't think so, Niamh," she replied. "Parvati's just

gotten something in the post... I can't quite see what it is, though..."



"Her name's Suklaa," explained Parvati, "and she's my and Lavender's mascot! You see, we're Team Chocolate Frog, and we're going to cheer up everyone in Gryffindor, and Suklaa means 'chocolate' in Finnish! Get it? Mum sent her to me!"

"ER, that's nice," replied Lee Jordan. "Go away, please."

Parvati frowned and stomped over to Ashanti Jordan, Lee's younger sister and a first year Gryffindor. "Your brother was rude to me, Ashanti!" she complained.

"Well, no offense, Parvati," Ashanti replied, "but you've already told everyone a million times! It's getting rather repetitive..."

Parvati glared at her. "You're just jealous!" she snapped, clutching the grey

and white kitten even tighter. "Don't worry, my ickle baby Suklaa," she cooed."Mummy

and Lavender love you! And everyone else does too, they're just jealous... Yes,

they're jealous of Mummy, they are..."

Ashanti shook her head disapprovingly, and backed slowly away, having made the decision that certain upperclassmen of hers were rather mad...




"Hermione?" Parvati asked her dormmate, slightly nervous. She had known Hermione Granger since their first year, but they had never exactly been friends. But, then again, Hermione would certainly be honored at a beautiful girl like Parvati asking for her advice. Unless she was still upset at Parvati over the things Parvati had called her at breakfast. But no, Hermione was a sensible sort of girl. Surely she wouldn't be bitter over being called a "pathetic bookworm who Harry and Ron are only friends with because they feel sorry for her" or "a know-it-all prefect who all the first years are afraid of, and I don't blame them." "Would you mind giving me a bit of advice?"

Hermione looked up from her book. "I suppose not," she said warily, "but do hurry; I have a Prefects Meeting in fifteen minutes."

Parvati smiled, relieved at her acceptance. "Well, okay, you know that house elves club thing you had last year?" she asked. "You know, what was it called... Barf? Puke?"

"S.P.E.W."

"Yes, spew!" Parvati agreed. "Well, how did you get people to take you seriously?"

"I never figured that out, I suppose," Hermione responded crisply. "Everyone regarded it as a joke." Hermione narrowed her eyes, perhaps in remembrance of her classmates' indifference to her terribly important cause. "Why do you ask, though?"

"Well, Lavender and I have this thing called Team Chocolate Frog," explained Parvati. "Our goal is to boost Gryffindor's spirit. But no one takes us seriously, and they hate our mascot, and Lavender and I always mess up when we do our motto!"

"Maybe you don't have enough confidence," suggested Hermione. "How often do you practice your motto?"

Parvati imagined that they must have practiced it at least once during the summer. "Every so often," she replied.

"Well, practice it even more!" urged Hermione. "Maybe you can practice over by the Astronomy Tower! No one ever goes there..."

Parvati considered this. "That's a good idea!" she responded. "Ouu, I'm going to go write a note to Lavender telling her to meet me by the Astronomy Tower before dinner! Oh, they'll take us seriously once we've practiced, I just know it! Thanks, Hermione!" After Hermione assured her that she was most welcome, and insisted that Parvati was to come to her any time she needed advice, Parvati began on her note, puzzling over the fact that Hermione had crossed her fingers as she had said all that. It must, she decided, be some sort of strange Muggle custom.




Niamh Kavanagh, Ravenclaw Prefect, prided herself on being an amiable sort of person. She made friends easily, and her circle of friends included students in all houses. For this reason, the Head Boy and Head Girl had assigned her to go to survey random fifth students in all houses, which she had been given a special pass to enter. Her first stop was Gryffindor.

She flashed her pass at the Fat Lady, who reluctantly let her in, and proceeded upstairs to the dorms. She first went to the fifth year girls' dorm, where she found Parvati, who was sealing a piece of parchment.

"Hello," Niamh read from her parchment, "my name is Niamh Kavanagh and I am a Prefect at our school, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am conducting a survey, which asks various questions concerning the management of our school, Hogwarts. I will first read you the questions out loud and then give you a form to fill out. Please be completely honest. Your name will not be disclosed. Here is the first set of questions: Please rate the following people, on a scale of one to ten, with ten being the highest: Head girl, Angelina Johnson, Gryffindor; 5th year Prefect Siwanw Walbeoff, Hufflepuff; 5th year Prefect Hannah Abbott, Hufflepuff; 5th year Prefect Justin..."

"Hi, Niamh!" exclaimed Parvati cheerfully. "You're doing a survey? That's wonderful; I'm so proud of you for being a Prefect, you know! Here, bring this note to Lavender for me, she's watching Gryffindor's Quidditch practice! I'll answer your survey questions later, I promise!"

"Okay," agree Niamh, pocketing Parvati's note, and heading out the dorm to the Hufflepuff. "See you later then, Parvati!"




Niamh hummed as she headed out of the Slytherin 5th Year Boys dorm rooms. Finally someone had had the time to complete a survey! Of course, Gregory Goyle had given all the Slytherins tens and anyone from another house the lowest rating possible, but that could be strictly a coincidence. She entered the Slytherin 5th Year Girls' dorm room, where dark haired Elaine Mosvepres, in manner similar to that of Parvati Patil, was sealing a note. Elaine looked up and saw Niamh. "Will you give this to Pansy, Niamh?" she asked. "I think she's down at the Quidditch pitch watching practice."

Parvati had said the same thing. "Isn't it a Gryffindor practice?" asked Niamh.

Elaine checked the Quidditch schedule on the wall. "I believe so," she responded. "You might look in the bushes..."

"ER, okay then..." Niamh said, refraining from further comment as she placed

the note in her pocket with the one to Lavender. "But will you answer a few

survey questions first?"

Elaine nodded absently.

"Oh, good!" exclaimed Niamh. "Thank you so much, Elaine! Okay, my name is Niamh Kavanagh and..."




About an hour before her dinner, Niamh Kavanagh delivered Lavender Brown the following note:

My Dear One Who Is More Beautiful than the Plant Whose Name She Bears,

My darling, we have been friends, best friends, ever since our first year at Hogwarts together. In fact, you are the only one at Hogwarts whom I truly feel affection for. Every day when I wake up, I am so thankful for you, my dearest friend. I've never been able to say this out loud, but I love you. And I will love you forever.

Most sincerely,

Your Best Friend




"I promise you, Lavender, I did not send you the note!" insisted Parvati. "That's not my handwriting and that's not how I feel! I mean, we're friends and all, of course, but this sounds, well.. Hey, maybe it wasn't even for you! Lavender's not a plant, it's a color!"

"Actually," said a voice from behind them that belonged to Colin Creevey (except

for during that unfortunate incident where in a sea witch had confused him with

some mermaid named "Ariel," taken his voice, and used it until the Ministry

had finally convinced her to give it back to him), "Lavender is a plant. We're

growing it my Herbology class!" Both girls turned bright red. "ER, not that

I was, ER, listening or anything..." Colin began to walk away.

"It's okay, Parvati," Lavender assured. "I believe you. And I do believe you're right when saying it was for someone else or such! But it was so odd to get such a letter, I'm certain you can imagine my reaction... Well you probably can, I mean, you're not terribly imaginative, no offense, but it's the sort thing..."

"I'm glad we've worked this out," said Parvati, hugging Lavender in a manner that would have been pleasing to the inventor of the word "platonic," had he not been a grumpy sort of man who hated children. "And the message I intended you to get suggested that we practice our motto every afternoon. Hermione said that we ought to rehearse by the Astronomy Tower, as no really goes there."

"Ah, that's a good idea!" Lavender replied. "We can start tomorrow. Here, let's go over it!" Parvati agreed to this.

"To protect our spirits from devastation!"

"To unite the Gryffindorian nation!"

"To denounce blood prejudice, which we're sick of!"

"To unshroud the future from the stars above!"

"Parvati!

"Lavender!

"Team Chocolate Frog, bounce off at the speed of light!

"We're two girls who know what's right!

"Go Gryffindor!

Lavender and Parvati burst into wild cheers.

"That was wonderful!" exclaimed Colin Creevey. The girls stared at him. "ER,

yes, must be going!" He walked away again as he did before, except for the "turning

back to continue to listen in" bit.



Celeste Sinistra was, in general, a content witch. She had a loving husband, a charming home in the center of Hogsmeade, two adorable children (Jyoti and Hesperus), and a steady job as professor of Astronomy at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. But, in all honesty, however steady and noble her job at Hogwarts was, it didn't pay much. So Celeste had taken a second job with a Muggle company called Nintendo. She was currently working on a television show that would be released soon in Japan and released in the States about two or three years later. It was called Pokamon. Or Pokuman. Or something. Her current job was to "translate" (a.k.a. rewrite) the motto of these two characters called Rocket Gang. Already she had decided on a new name for them: Team Rocket. It had all the glamour of "Rocket Gang" but without the Angry Mums Calling In Because Their Darlings Have Joined Gangs, and It's All Your Fault, You Know!! potential. As for the motto, however, Celeste was stumped... But lately she had heard a certain two Gryffindor fifth years who called themselves Team Chocolate Frog reciting something outside her tower. A motto. And one day Celeste Sinistra wrote down every word they said...




Lavender Brown sat in the first seat of the first row in Transfiguration. It was, in general, a good seat. The middle students in each row were always in Professor McGonagall's view, but the students on the corners were blissfully out of site. Parvati, who sat behind Lavender, had also managed to obtain a corner seat, so Transfiguration class was always filled with whispers and words of advice. And, as Ron Weasley had said, no matter what grades Lavender got in Transfiguration, she would always be, in a sense, number one. Ron found it amusing to tell her this every class, and Lavender dearly looked forward to next year when they would begin learning Human Transfiguration.

Unfortunately, a week or so after Lavender and Parvati began practicing their Team Chocolate Frog motto, Lavender's seat became forever tainted. Lavender and Parvati had rushed into the classroom, only to find that Peeves was mistaken and that they weren't late to Transfiguration. Lavender had suspected that Peeves was being, as in past experiences, less than truthful, but thought it possible that her and Parvati's constant motto recitation had had a reforming effect on Peeves' character.

Lavender was putting her book bag down on her desk when she noticed a piece of parchment in her book basket. She picked it up, read its contents, and turned pale.

"What's wrong?" asked Parvati, noticing her distress.

Wordlessly, Lavender handed her the piece of parchment.

"Oh no!" Parvati said, after reading it, distressed. "Come here, everyone!" she shouted. "I think you all have the right to read this..."

The other Gryffindors gathered around Parvati, each silently reading the prophecy written in pink ink on the parchment:

One who lurks among you soon,

Whose last name really isn't Moon,

Who'll wreak havoc and cause fright and fear,

And steal sweets and dear Sevvie's beer.

Oh evil creature from the store,

It is the Anti-Gryffindor!

"It's a prophecy against us!" exclaimed Dean, perhaps, in his outrage, unaware at the obviousness of this statement.

"Well, it's a good thing whoever wrote this is a prophet, not an author!" exclaimed Ron above the rumors. "It's terrible!"

"Really!" agreed Hermione. "Is it really an 'evil creature from the store?' or was that the only thing the brainless git who wrote this could thing of to rhyme with Gryffindor?"

"I wonder what the 'Anti-Gryffindor's' doctor thinks of his sweets and beer diet?" joked Harry.

The three friends walked back to their seats, laughing, and Neville followed.

Lavender shook her head sadly. She hoped they would live to regret their ignorance and-hard headedness. But why did they have to draw poor, innocent Neville into their corruptness? She and Parvati must go talk to Professor Trelawney about them, she decided.

"What are we going to do?" asked Seamus.

Lavender straightened her shoulders and took the piece of parchment back from Parvati. "I'm not sure," she told everyone, quietly. "Parvati and I will consult Professor Trelawney, for sure. She's so knowledgeable about these things! And if she doesn't have any suggestions, maybe we'll just have to bide our time. But whatever's the matter, rest assured that Team Chocolate Frog will get to the bottom of it. We'll protect Gryffindor and defeat the Anti-Gryffindor. We promise."

Parvati burst into tears. "Oh, Lavender!" she weeped. "I'm so proud!"

The second that sentiment was uttered, Professor McGonagall walked into the room. "Here I am," she announced. "Get to your seats. Why are you crying, Parvati? Is there something the matter? Get out your textbooks, class... Is that a note, Lavender? Bring it here, please..."




"Hey, Elaine?"

"Yes, Pansy?"

Elaine and Pansy were studying together in the Slytherin common room, reviewing their History of Magic notes, as well as the notes they had received during History of Magic.

"Have you seen that Anti-Gryffindor poem we made up during Transfiguration?" Pansy asked.

"No, Pansy, I haven't," Elaine answered.

Pansy shrugged. "Oh well... Someone must have thrown it away or something..."

Elaine agreed that that must have been the case. "ER, Pansy?" she asked.

"Yeah?"

"Did you ever get that note I sent you through Niamh?"

Pansy paused in recollection. "Oh, yes!" she said, finally. "I couldn't come, though, Jordan and I had detention for talking..."

Elaine stared at her, confused. Was this some sort of metaphor? "I don't think I understand, Pansy," Elaine said.

"Well, you said you wanted to meet me at the Astronomy Tower to practice - did you mean Quidditch?, a half hour before dinner," explained Pansy, "but I couldn't come, because I had detention. Sorry about that, though."

"That's not what my note said!" Elaine replied, confused.

"Hmm," said Pansy, considering this. "Maybe Niamh gave me the wrong the note... What did your note say?"

"Nothing important," responded Elaine, quickly. "Don't worry about it, Pansy."




Lavender started on her second page of parchment of her essay on hexes for Defense Against the Dark Arts. They had Mad-Eye Moody again this year, though he seemed somehow different; most prone to assigning essays among other things... Not that any of the teachers' behavior was normal; they were all acting decidedly odd. Even for teachers. She chewed on her quill. It tasted of ink. What Lavender really wanted was a few sugar quills, but it was only forty-five minutes before dinner... Hmm.., she thought. "Have you ever done something that you know your parents would disapprove of, but you did it anyway because you were at boarding school and they'd never know?" Lavender asked Parvati, who was sitting next to her.

Parvati got a misty look in her eyes. "Oh, yes!" she exclaimed, giggling in a manner that, for some odd reason, reminded Lavender of Parvati's most recent giggle of Witch Weekly's monthly "Tips that Will Make Your Date Simply Magical!" feature. "You see, in second year, Padma and I asked Mum and Dad when we could date and they say fourth year (isn't that unbelievable?), but there was this bloke I fancied, well, actually it was Fred Weasley, and I asked him out anyhow!"

This wasn't exactly what Lavender meant, but she didn't bother to correct Parvati. "Ouu!" exclaimed Lavender, "did he say yes?"

"No," replied Parvati sadly. "And all his friends laughed at me."

"I'm sorry," Lavender said sympathetically. "Anyway, what I was thinking was that we should go up to our dorm and eat some sweets; even though it's near dinnertime, I mean..."

"Ouuu!" exclaimed Parvati. ("Ouuu" had been an essential part of Parvati's vocabulary, even since she and Padma had gotten their first subscription to Witch Weekly). "Great idea, Lavender!"

The two raced up to their dorm and over to the large box with an attached microphone between Lavender and Parvati's beds that contained their joint sweets stash, nearly tripping over Suklaa. "Which magazine should a witch buy weekly?" Parvati said into the microphone. That had been Witch Weekly's slogan when they had purchased the box. Of course, the fact that it was inscribed into the box didn't make it the best of passwords, but such thoughts simply did not occur to them back then.

The box opened.

It was empty.

Lavender gasped. "The Anti-Gryffindor has struck!" she exclaimed, shocked. "He's stolen sweets already! What should we do, Parvati?'

Parvati looked, possibly for the first time in her life, skeptical. "Are you sure your parents haven't just a cast the No Sweets Before Dinner Spell on you?" she asked. Parvati's parents had done this to her and her sister once, but Padma had found the counterspell. "They could have done it in your sleep, even..."

Lavender shook her head. "That's impossible," she replied frankly.

"Ah, they trust do you, do they?" replied Parvati, in a manner that implied she was speaking of something she'd heard of, but never experience.

"No," Lavender replied, giggling, "you're so dense sometimes, Parvati! They're Muggles; Muggles can't cast spells!"




Lavender, Parvati, and Seamus exited Professor Snape's dungeon, feeling quite irritated. Dean was absent from their company, which wasn't unusual as of late, stalking the Slytherin girls. Lavender, refusing to believe that anyone she had gone out with could fancy someone in Slytherin, insisted it was part of his clever plan to stop the Anti-Gryffindor that he would soon disclose to them. Parvati was of the opinion that the sleeping house-elf that Dean had accidentally stepped on had put something in Dean's food. Seamus reckoned that he was trying to win Snape's favor so he wouldn't fail Potions (Not that any of them believed a Gryffindor could so easily win Snape's favor. Or win it at all.). Which all came back to the reason that the three Gryffindors were so disgruntled.

It had been their first Potions since the fated day that they had discovered the Anti-Gryffindor prophecy. They had gotten into groups of three (to the disgust of Pansy Parkinson and another Slytherin girl, Dean had insisted in being in their group) to make Sleeping Draughts. Snape had given Lavender, Parvati, and Seamus' Sleeping Draught a failing mark.

As they reflected on this, Hermione Granger, who had stayed behind to ask Professor Snape something about their homework, exited the dungeon.

Parvati motioned to Lavender and Seamus and they stepped in front of Hermione, blocking her path.

"Excuse me," said Hermione, attempting to step passed them.

"Not so fast!" Parvati said loudly. "Do you remember how you said that you didn't think the Anti-Gryffindor prophecy is true?"

Hermione did, and, if this was what they were leading up to, she still believed

it to be rubbish and "I wonder that the three of you are still wasting their

time thinking about it instead of studying for your O.W.L.s."

Parvati stared at her, scandalized. "How can you doubt the prophecy now?" exclaimed Parvati. "You've just experienced the line about the anti-Gryffindor 'stealing all of dear Sevvie's beer' in action!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!" objected Hermione. "Now if you'll please move, and perhaps consider getting lives while you're at it..."

"Ouuu! Let me explain!" Lavender replied. Lavender was obviously another user of the all-expressive word "Ouuu." "Okay, well "Sevvie" is Professor Snape because his first name's 'Severus!' It's a nickname, I imagine. It's like 'Vicky' is a nickname for 'Victoria' or 'Willie' is short for William, or, well, I imagine you get it, and the reason he was being so awful today in because the Anti-Gryffindor's stolen all his beer! Just like George Weasley, he gets so upset when..."

"George Weasley is not an alcoholic!" Hermione objected hotly, ignoring Seamus' sad whisper that "their friends are always the last to know." "And Snape didn't seem any worse than normal to me..."

Parvati sniffed. "Well, perhaps that's because he didn't give you a failing mark on your potion!"

Lavender and Seamus nodded.

"Neville turned into a rabbit and had to go the infirmary when he drank some!" Hermione replied. "Did you expect to get full marks?"

Parvati and Lavender shook their heads. "Typical prefect answer!" Lavender said airily.

The three friends turned their backs in unison and walked away haughtily. Or at least tried to. Seamus tripped over Lavender and Parvati and broke his leg (which rather ruined the effect), and spent the rest of the evening in the middling company of Neville in the infirmary.




Interlude: A Day in the Life of Lavender Brown




Lavender Brown was, alas, a bit of an "airhead." She got reasonably good marks in school, but would have gotten far better marks if she had studied more. She was an avid Witch Weekly fan, spent an immoderate amount of her allowance on lipgloss, and simply wasn't among the more lofty Hogwarts students who considered themselves above gossip. But Lavender was far from being uncultured. She enjoyed such refined hobbies as visiting and literature. And there would come a Saturday when Lavender would get to enjoy both of her much-accredited hobbies...




It was a Hogsmeade weekend and Lavender, as always, had plans. Parvati, Niamh, Padma, Hannah, and she were leaving right after lunch to spend the rest of the day shopping at Hogsmeade. Lavender was very excited. But for this morning, she would read in the common room.

Lavender looked over the books she had gotten from the library, unable to decide whether to read "Our Adventures: Transfiguration Camp," Twins Monserrate and Concetta have go to Transfiguration camp! Will the summer turn into a big mess?; "Head Over Heels," Head Girl Megan Sinclair has fancied funny, practical joke loving fellow Quidditch team member Lance Kelly for years. But will he ever be serious about their relationship?; or Victoria's Secret, Victoria Woodhouse is an America transfer student with a secret; but why do all the Muggle-born students keep laughing at her when she tells this?. Lavender finally ending up choosing Head Over Heels, which, for some terribly bizarre reason, Angelina Johnson was always raving about. Pausing briefly to pat Suklaa on the head, she headed down to the common room.

"Ah!" exclaimed Parvati, snatching Lavender's book from her and looking at the title. "Let me know if you like it. I know you'll like Victoria's Secret, it's so good! Hermione said it was funny, though, but it I didn't think it was exactly funny... Maybe she was thinking of some other book..."

Lavender took her book back from Parvati, agreeing that that must have indeed been the case.




Honeydukes had been founded three hundred years ago by Sir Knimlinger IV. Sir Knimlinger had captured his rival dukes, shrunk them, soaked them in honey, and sold them as sweets to small children. Even in current times, Honeydukes was less than wholesome in the way it obtained its sweets, buying most of it off the black market and producing the rest by the labor of thousands of enslaved unicorns. But Lavender and her companions were ignorant of this and were once again patronizing what many Hogwarts students considered the best shop in Hogsmeade.

As they entered Honeydukes, Parvati and Hannah raced to the chocolate section, while Padma and Niamh proceeded swiftly towards the sugar quills. Lavender, however, lingered at a display of her favorite sweets, lipglosses that became edible at the stroke of midnight. Suddenly, she was lifted from the ground. A blindfold was tied over her eyes and a handkerchief stuffed in her mouth.

"Mpmph!" she objected.

To her horror, she was picked up and her kidnapper began to walk out the store. Her kidnapper's grip then weakened and she fell heavily onto Hogsmeade's rubble pavement.




"Lavender, I am so, so, so sorry!" was the first thing Lavender heard when she opened her eyes. Hovering over her infirmary bed was her somewhat dear friend Seamus.

"ER," said Lavender.

"No, really, I am so sorry, Lavender!" he continued. "I really didn't mean to drop you! It was just a prank and I've seen the wrong of my ways and everything."

Lavender stared at him, confused. "ER, what?" she asked finally.

Seamus gasped, burst into tears, and ran weeping out of the infirmary.

Lavender shrugged and found a copy of Witch Weekly in the pile of magazines on the table by her bed. The witch on the cover quickly stuffed a bag of Honeydukes' chocolate back into her purse and struck a pose, leading Lavender to reflect over the incident that had taken place at Honeydukes.

Just then, Madam Pomfrey marched quickly into the room, dragging a still sniffling Seamus behind her. "Lavender," said Madam Pomfrey, "this boy seems to think you have amnesia... What did you say to him?"

Lavender shook her head, confused again. "I don't know why he would think I have amnesia!" she exclaimed. "I didn't say anything the least bit like that to him. Seamus, don't worry, I remember every bit of what happened up until the bloke who was kidnapping me dropped me on the pavement!"

Seamus suddenly understood. "Lavender," he told her quietly (apparently "Lavender," was a favorite conversation starter of both Madam Pomfrey and his), "I was the one who kidnapped you."

Finally, Seamus' strange remarks of the past couple minutes began to make sense. "Ah!" she replied, pleased that her confusion had finally lowered to only her normal level. "I get it! That's okay!"

Seamus looked slightly shocked. "You're not angry?" he asked.

Lavender shook her head, this time in denial instead of confusion. "Nah!" she responded. "Niamh, Padma, and Hannah are a bit boring... No offense, of course... I mean they're nice, seriously, but just the tiniest bit dull. Not that that's a bad..."

"I noticed that you were looking at sweets lipglosses display," remarked Seamus. "Do you like sweets lipgloss?"

"Ah, yes!" replied Lavender, with affection directed first at sweets lipglosses and then at Seamus for his audience. "I always wear sweets lipgloss for parties and such where I'll be staying up late! It's almost as cool as real lipgloss... They're my favorite sweets!"

"Really?" asked Seamus. "Wow! They're my favorite sweets too!"

Lavender had found her soul mate.




Lavender awoke to a rather drawn out scream. (And the author's muse definitely

isn't going tell you that when the author originally thought of the sentence,

she mentally described as the screams as "bloodcurdling," because if she did,

you'd think her to be an evil cliche-using sort of writer... Oops.) She jumped

out of bed, instructing her self to remain calm and remember what she'd learned

during Skills for Emergencies at Wizarding Summer Camp, and drew out her wand.

Before her stood a pale-looking Parvati.

"What happened?" she asked her, mentally running through all the medical spells she had learned. "Where are you hurt?" Suddenly she froze. She had forgotten the healing spell for poison tipped arrow wounds below the knee! Parvati would die and it would be all her fault!

She burst into tears and Parvati patted her on the shoulder. "Poor Lavender!" she said. "I should have known that you would take this even harder than I would! But don't worry, we can buy more sweets!"

Lavender stared at Parvati in surprise. "Sweets?" she exclaimed. "What do sweets have to do with anything?" She studied Parvati. "You don't look too bad. If I can get you to Madame Pomfrey's, you'll still live!"

"What are you talking about?" replied Parvati. "I'm not going to die or anything... Well, maybe... I really liked my Cotton Candy Bubble Gum Light Rose Sparkle Glamour Witch Lipgloss and they only make Bubble Gum Cotton Candy Pale Rose Sparkle Glamour Witch Lipgloss now... But we can buy more sweets, I'm sure!"

"You mean, you haven't been wounded below the knee with a poison tipped arrow?" asked Lavender.

Parvati shook her head. "Of course not!" she responded. "But the Anti-Gryffindor has stolen all our sweets again and my Cotton Candy Bubble Gum Light Rose Sparkle Glamour Witch Lipgloss!"

Lavender gasped, her former fear of her friend's death temporarily forgotten. "It stole our sweets again? That's awful!"

She looked at Parvati, who straightened her shoulders. "We've got to do something, Lavender!" she said determinedly. "We can't allow ourselves to be pushed around anymore! We are Team Chocolate Frog and we are going to take a stand! No matter what we have to do, no matter how much work it takes, even if it costs us our lives, we must defeat the Anti Gryffindor!"

"Or we could just tell Professor McGonagall!" suggested Lavender. "I'm sure she could figure it out." Parvati looked scandalized. "Or not..."

And from that day forward, they practiced their motto for an extra ten minutes every day.




Pansy Parkinson was not having a good day. Elaine was, with the headmaster's permission, of course, spending the day with her mother in Hogsmeade, leaving her in the less than satisfactory company of Miki, Blaise, Jordan, and Millicent. Currently, she was on her way to dinner, and, as Miki was still studying in the dorm room and Millicent was beating up Hufflepuffs in the bathroom, she was accompanied only by Blaise and Jordan.

This did not please Pansy. She hadn't always disliked Blaise and Jordan. She supposed it had started in their fourth year, when Blaise and Jordan had started Operation Flirt with Draco. Some of the Ravenclaws had laughed appreciably when she had called it that, but, sadly, Blaise and Jordan had made up the name themselves. The worst thing was that Draco had actually started enjoying it. This caused severe annoyance in Pansy's life. It wasn't that she fancied Draco. He was too conceited for even Pansy's tastes. As adoring as Blaise and Jordan were of him, Pansy had a feeling that he would always be his own biggest fan. But he was the only "dateable" boy in the year, and Pansy had rather liked being the only Slytherin girl in the year that he paid attention to.

"Look, Pansy!" giggled Blaise, pointing to Dean, who was once again trailing her. "There's your boyfriend again!"

"I knew that Gryffindors were supposed to be 'brave,'" added Jordan, "but I didn't know one would be 'brave' enough to go after pureblood Slytherin like you!" Both Jordan and Blaise found this hysterical, Jordan especially so, and burst into loud giggles.

Pansy sighed and then turned around decisively. "Do you value your life, Thomas?" she asked.

Dean smiled at her. "Life without you is meaningless, dearest," he replied.

If possible, the giggles of Blaise and Jordan became louder.

"Leave me alone!" shouted Pansy.

Dean smiled again. "Of course, dearest," he said. "But first, will you let me ask you one question?"

"Fine," Pansy responded, in the most indifferent tone she could muster.

"Will you go out with me?" asked Dean, his eyes glazed in the most annoying manner.

Jordan and Blaise clutched each other's arms for support, but gave up and collapsed onto the floor. They were immediately trampled by a group of peeved looking sixth year perfects.

"I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last person on earth!" Pansy responded

acidly. Obviously she didn't hold herself to the high standard of rarely using

clichés.

Dean stared at her, dismayed and then walked off.

Pansy rolled her eyes as she escorted her friends to Madame Pomfrey's, not allowing herself to feel the least bit sorry for Dean. Surely even he couldn't have been so naive as not to see that one coming.




"Hello, Elaine!" exclaimed Miki, as her year mate entered the room. Miki was doing a bit studying before dinner (they had their First Quarter Transfiguration test in a few days), and Elaine had apparently just come back from her day excursion with her mother. "You look happy!"

Elaine nodded, almost smiling. "For the first time in your life, you're right, Miki," she replied, her voice lacking its usual coldness.

Miki took this in, impressed. Elaine, she thought to herself, must really be a good mood. Elaine hadn't called Miki by her first name since Draco's parents had decided to switch Draco to another school. Elaine had never liked Draco. She had cried for two days when his parents had changed their minds. "Why are you so happy?" Miki asked curiously, though she doubted Elaine would tell her.

"Pansy turned down that Gryffindor bloke," responded Elaine, putting aside her unspoken vow Never to Tell Miki Anything in her excitement.

"Ah," said Miki. "I was pretty sure that would happen. But how did you know? Can you read each other's minds when you want to? Oh, wow, I wish I had a friend like that!"

"Don't be stupid," replied Elaine. "Obviously I wouldn't have worried if I could read her mind. But since seem so eager know, I'm certain you must remember how I had you get me a thimble of her blood last year."

Miki did. "But you said that wasn't for a Spying Charm!" she objected.

This time Elaine actually did smile. Miki wished she had a camera. "Honesty," Elaine informed her, "is hardly a Slytherin trait."




"I'm bored," exclaimed Pansy loudly. It was the First Quarter Transfiguration test, and so far, the rest of the class, with the exception of Miki, Elaine, and herself, had yet to be finished. Students were called one by one, and it had only taken Elaine, Pansy, and Miki a few minutes to do the animal transfigurations they had been instructed to do. Unfortunately, the fourth student to be tested was Gregory Goyle, and he had already been up at the professor's desk for forty minutes. Professor McGonagall glared at Pansy, put her finger to her lips, and turned back to Gregory.

"I'm bored," Pansy said again, this time in a whisper. "I wish Gregory would hurry! How could it possibly take someone so long?"

"I know!" agreed Elaine. "I wish he would just tell McGonagall that he's forgotten the spell and let the next person go! If he didn't know the spell twenty minutes ago, he's not going to remember any time soon."

Pansy agreed that this was true. There was a long, boring lapse of silence. At least McGonagall would be happy. "I've got an idea!" Pansy said finally. "Why don't we write a letter to the Gryffindors from the 'Anti-Gryffindor?"

"Good idea!" agreed Elaine. "And they have Transfiguration next, so we can leave it here!"

"Oh, I know, Elaine!" exclaimed Pansy in an excited whisper. "Let's have the 'Anti-Gryffindor' challenge them to a duel!"

Elaine shook her head. "They would never fall for it," she objected.

Pansy considered this. "Yeah, I reckon they wouldn't," she agreed.

"We can still do it though!" Elaine replied. "It's not as if we have anything better to do..."




"Dear Gryffindors," read Parvati, "I don't imagine that any of you small-brained sort of people have heard of me, but I'm the Anti-Gryffindor. I am fierce, shrewd, and would delight in smushing you like bugs. I challenge you to a duel tomorrow at 8:14 in front of the Astronomy Tower. Send your bravest house members. Love, The Anti-Gryffindor."

There were gasps. Multiple gasps. Four gasps. Belonging to Parvati, Lavender, Seamus, and Dean. Well, Neville also gasped, but that because he had just remembered that they had their First Quarter Transfiguration test today. But the other class members looked decidedly indifferent and Hermione even rolled her eyes.

Fortunately, the four students who had gasped, besides Neville, were too enthralled to notice their classmates' indifference. They stammered out expressions like "Oh my gosh!," "We'll show him, then!," and "Wow, he must big if he's going to smush us like bugs!"

Parvati, Lavender, and Dean turned to look at Seamus. "I mean, if he has the *ability* to smush us like bugs," Seamus amended quickly. "What are we going to do, though?"

"The only thing we can do," Parvati insisted. "Take them on. And as Team Chocolate Frog, Lavender and I are the ones to do it!"

"ER, yes!" agreed Lavender, slightly less enthusiastic. "We'd, ER, be the

perfect ones!"

"That's not fair!" objected Dean. "Dean and I are brave, too! We should come with you, shouldn't we, Seamus?"

"Well," said Seamus, "you see, ER Well, actually... I mean, yes! We sure should!

I would personally be, ah, very upset if not allowed to go." Only an indifferent

Hermione saw Dean step on Seamus' foot with his textured shoe.

"Well, okay," relented Parvati. "But no one else, okay, everyone?" None of their other classmates had the slightest objection to this.




"Hi, everyone!" exclaimed Niamh, addressing the fifth year Slytherins who sat eating their lunch innocently. (Well, as innocently as possible for fifth year Slytherins.) "Mind if I sit here?"

"ER," said Elaine and Pansy.

"Sure!" exclaimed Miki.

Niamh smiled and took seat across from Miki and next to Pansy. "I heard something interesting about the Gryffindors and I thought all of you would be interested!" she exclaimed. Obviously the rumor that most of Niamh's statements could be answered with "Not bloody likely!" wasn't unfounded.

Everyone moved towards the other side of the table, except for Miki, and Elaine and Pansy, who were conveniently trapped between Miki and Niamh and the end of the table.

"They got this note from someone called the 'Anti-Gryffindor,'" continued Niamh, "and it said to meet him or her for a duel at the Astronomy tower tonight! They've gone insane with worry, well, some of them at least! Hermione says that some of them had nightmares last night! I guess it's pretty scary... I don't know what I'd do if I had to duel an Anti-Ravenclaw. And they think that the Anti-Gryffindor's rather powerful..."

"Wow!" exclaimed Miki. "That's terrible! I can't believe..."

"How did you do on your Transfiguration test, Niamh?" Elaine asked quickly.

"I don't know, I haven't had it yet," replied Niamh. "It's my first class after lunch, though. Was it hard, Elaine? I've been thinking about spending the rest of lunch studying..."

"Oh, yes!" replied Elaine, smiling at Pansy. "I think you better. Maybe Miki will help you! She did really well!"

"Okay," answered Niamh. "Would you help me, Miki?"

Miki nodded. "Of course, Niamh! Come on, if we go now, we'll have a whole hour!"

Miki and Niamh grabbed a basket of sandwiches and rushed off.

Pansy and Elaine burst into laughter. "Wow!" exclaimed Pansy. "Those Gryffindors are even dumber than we thought!"

"They certainly are dense," agreed Elaine. "I can't believe they're so upset over that note we made up! I wasn't even planning on going.."

There was a lapse of silence as "reminiscent" of the lapse of silence during Transfiguration as the second Harry Potter movie trailer was supposedly of the first.

"Hey, Elaine?" asked Pansy.

"Yes?" replied Elaine.

"Maybe we did was... was wrong.."

They exchanged glances.

"Nah!"




Lavender drew her sword out of its sheath, flashing it through the air and someone managing not to knock over more than a couple objects in her dorm ("Lavender, that was my collectible copy of Hogwarts: A History!").

"Is that a real sword?" Parvati asked, impressed.

Lavender shook her head. "No," she replied, sadly, "it's just plastic. But I was thinking that I could transfigure it into metal..." Lavender glanced down at the rather blunt point. "Well, maybe..."

"What do you need a sword for, Lavender?" asked Hermione, clutching Hogwarts: A History. It didn't seem damaged to Lavender, but Hermione was cradling it gently, and, if Lavender didn't know better, she would have thought that Hermione was whispering to it. But her down-to-earth roommate surely wouldn't indulge in such behavior.

"For the duel, obviously!" replied Lavender, flipping through one of their textbooks for Transfiguration.

Possibly for the first time in their lives, Hermione and Parvati exchanged glances. "It's called using a wand to duel, Lavender," Parvati said. Hermione nodded encouragingly.

"No, way!" came a voice from the corner. "Wands are for sissies. Way to go, Lavender! You're a real woman!"

Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati gasped and turned around.

"ER, I'll be going now!" said Colin Creevey quickly, and dashed out of the

room, not even stopping to pat Suklaa on the head.

"Honesty!" exclaimed Hermione. "What is wrong with Colin this year, anyway? Did we go around spying on older boys when we were in fourth year?" Obviously, Hermione too had caught Colin spying on her before.

"ER, why, no!" responded Lavender, perhaps too quickly. Lee and his friends

had been livid...

"I think we better get dressed now," said Parvati, interrupting Lavender's recollections. "It's 7:14; the duel starts in an hour!"

"Eight o'clock is rather early for a duel," remarked Hermione.

"It's not at eight, Hermione," Lavender replied patiently, "it's at eight fourteen.'

Hermione left the room in disgust.




By 8:00, Lavender and Parvati were ready to go. They had gotten some information out of Ron and had blackmailed Alicia Spinnet into making them identical and "rather cool" costumes that consisted of white trousers, a sleeveless white shirt, and a open white overshirt with "Team Chocolate Frog" embroidered on the back....




Flashback, the day before:

"Hi, Alicia!" exclaimed Parvati cheerfully.

Alicia stared at her. "Get out of my dorm, Patil," she said finally.

Parvati grinned, and looked around. The dorm of the seventh year girls was rather boring, especially, Parvati thought, if one wasn't found of Quidditch. Besides Quidditch posters, there were Quidditch books, various broom polishing tools, and dozens of Quidditch player figures scatted all around the room. "SPEW" would have been a better name for this room than for Hermione's noble organization. "That's no way to talk to one's customers!" replied Parvati.

"Customer?" asked Alicia. Surely the rumors weren't getting that bad...

Parvati nodded. "My, ER, friend Niamh said you were good at making clothes..."

"Oh!" replied Alicia. "Okay, then! What do you want?"

"I have the plans right here," Parvati replied, handing Alicia a folder. "Lavender wants the same thing. And we'll pay half a galleon each."

"Alright," answered Alicia, looking through the pictures in the folder. "When you need it ready by?"

Parvati smiled at her. "Tomorrow."

Alicia gasped. "Tomorrow?" she sputtered. "Are you mad? It will take me at least two weeks to get this done! There's no way I could finish this by tomorrow."

"Really?" asked Parvati, her smile growing even larger. "Because I was certain that you didn't want the rest of the school to know what Ron told me..."




....Over that, each wore a dark sash with an attached sheath. Parvati didn't have a sword, but she had found a thin board on the way to Herbology that sort of looked like one.

They joined the slightly less excited Seamus and Dean and proceeded to the Astronomy Tower.

They did not like what they saw.

"Here to cheer for the Anti-Gryffindor, are you?" Seamus asked Pansy Parkinson and Elaine Mosvepres.

Pansy and Elaine burst into giggles and were glared at by the four Gryffindors. Those stupid, giggling Slytherins were completely ruining the mood!

"It's obvious why you weren't put Ravenclaw, Finnigan," Elaine said finally.

The Gryffindors stared at her, confused.

"There is no Anti-Gryffindor," explained Pansy, finally. "We sent you that note!"

Parvati and Lavender exchanged glances of devastation. "We spent a half a galleon each on these outfits!" exclaimed Lavender.

"What about the prophecy, though?" asked Seamus.

"What prophecy?" asked Elaine. She turned to Pansy. "What are they babbling about, Pansy?" she asked.

"The prophecy about the Anti-Gryffindor!" replied Dean. "One who lurks among you soon whose last name really isn't Moon who'll wreak havoc and cause...

"So that's what happened to our poem!" interrupted Pansy. "They do have Transfiguration after us..."

Elaine nodded. "Do you still have a copy of it?" she asked the Gryffindors. "I wanted to show it to some people... Not that I'd touch it after you've had it so long, but we could probably get Niamh to copy it, couldn't we, Pansy?"

"How did you it?" Parvati burst out, unable to contain herself any longer. "How did you steal Snape's beer and break into my dorm?"

"What on earth are you talking about, Patil?" replied Elaine.

"Snape was in a really awful mood a while ago," explained Seamus, "and we've reckoned it's because the Anti-Gryffindor, well, you, I suppose, stole his beer. My da gets really foul tempered when he doesn't have his beer...."

"And the Anti-Gryffindor broke into the Fifth Year Gryffindor Girls' Dorm!" added Parvati. "All of Lavender and me's sweets were stolen, and my Cotton Candy Bubble Gum Light Rose Sparkle Glamour Witch Lipgloss!"

"I don't know who stole your stuff," objected Pansy, "but it wasn't us. Some of have enough money to buy our own sweets! And Professor Snape is never nice to stupid, stuck up Gryffindors like you!"

"We are not stupid and stuck up!" snapped Parvati. "We're not the ones who hate Muggle-borns and beat up Hufflepuffs in the bathroom!"

"I have never beaten up a Hufflepuff in my life, Patil!" Elaine replied icily.

"Me neither!" agreed Pansy. "In fact, only Millicent, Draco, Vincent, Gre..."

"ER, are we still going to duel?" asked Lavender.

"I hope not!!" said Elaine, glaring darkly at everyone but Pansy. "I don't want to duel..."

"Me neither!" added Pansy. "I don't know why I even decided to come in the first place; I have better things to do!"

Lavender wondered if Elaine and Pansy had ever disagreed in their lives. "Me neither, actually," Lavender admitted. "This outfit cost me a half a galleon, and if we duel it will likely get dirty and then Mum will be mad at me for wasting my money, and the..."

"Me neither!" Seamus put in. "We haven't had dueling lessons since second year, and I, for one, have forgotten how to do it..."

The others nodded.

"Maybe we should just have a thumb war or something," Dean said, grinning.

"Ouuu, good idea!" said Lavender. She approached Seamus. "One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb..."

"Come on!" exclaimed Seamus, grabbing Lavender's arm. "Let's have a Thumb War tournament in the common room!" They raced off.

"This is stupid!" remarked Pansy. "I'm leaving!"

"Me too!" agreed Dean, though perhaps only to indulge in following Pansy at an extremely close distance. They exited.

Elaine and Parvati exchanged an awkward glance. Then Elaine drew out her wand. "Petrificus Totalus!"




The morning after the supposed duel happened to be a Saturday, and so Lavender was sitting in the common room with an ice pack on her thumb [Madame Pomfrey had claimed it was a "magical" ice pack, but Lavender couldn't help but think that the nurse was too busy (there were several students there, but Lavender didn't get a chance to see who they were) to do a healing spell on her much bruised thumb], finally reading Victoria's Secret, when Parvati walked in through the Fat Lady's portrait. "Parvati!" exclaimed Lavender. "Where have you been?"

Parvati joined Lavender on the large chair she was sitting in. "The Infirmary," she replied. "Elaine cast Petrificus Totalus on me after you left, and I wasn't found until a couple hours later. I was nearly frozen!"

"I'm sorry," said Lavender, "I should gone to check if you were still there when you didn't come back to the common room after..."

"It's okay," replied Parvati, wondering briefly if Lavender even got tired of always being interrupted. Well, it was her fault... "You couldn't have guessed Elaine would do that. But, guess what, Elaine lost fifty points from Slytherin!"

"That's wonderful!" exclaimed Lavender. Again, there were a certain group of Gryffindors who would have said "Aw, that's too bad for Slytherin!" or "Poor Elaine, she deserved it, but she must feel awful!," but Lavender was not, and would probably never be, numbered among that group. "Let's go get some sweets to celebrate!"

They skipped up to the dorm. Until they fell. They then settled for limping up to the dorm, and hugging anyone they came upon. They finally reached their dorm and entered. Being shouted rude names after by a group of second year boys for hugging them didn't dampen their mood, though what they found inside did.

A dark haired girl of about eight was kneeling by the chest that contained their sweets. She was currently stuffing the sweets into her pockets. She didn't hear Parvati and Lavender walk in, but their rather high pitched screams alerted her and she turned around.

"What are you doing?" shrieked Parvati. "Those are our sweets!"

"ER, sorry!" the little girl replied.

"Who are you?" demanded Lavender. "How did you get in here?"

The little girl stood up, shifting her feet guilty."My name's Kissa," she

told them, "and you two brought me here. Sorry for eating your sweets, but the

kitty food you give me tastes yucky."

Parvati and Lavender now looked both outraged and confused. "What do you mean?" asked Parvati.

In what seemed to the answer to Parvati's question, the little girl , Kissa, turned into a cat. Suklaa.

"Our mascot!" Parvati exclaimed. "How can you turn into our mascot?"

Lavender considered this. "Maybe she is our mascot, Parvati!" Lavender suggested. She turned to Kissa. "Are you an Animagi?"

"Yep!" replied Kissa. She seemed far more cheerful now, but perhaps that was because she opened several packages of sugar quills and was eating them. "I can turn into a kitty!"

"But you're too young to be an Animagi!" objected Parvati. Parvati's sister, Padma, and her friends had tried to make an Animagi potion and had botched it terribly. They had spent weeks in the infirmary and Professor McGonagall had pressed it on them that they weren't to try such advanced magic until they were at least in seventh year.

Kissa shrugged. "Mummy gave me a potion that made me one just in case she

was taken away by... by..." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Death Eaters.

'Cause she's an Auror. And they did come and I turned into a kitty when they

came, so they couldn't me away. Mummy said to!"

"Wasn't your mum an Animagi, too?" asked Parvati.

Kissa shook her head. "No. There wasn't enough potion. Dad gave it to her when he died, so she said that she wanted me to be saved, at least. I guess if I hadn't been born she would have taken the potion herself." She lowered her head, guiltily. "I guess it's my fault they took her away, then, right?"

"Probably," replied Parvati.

Lavender glared at her.

"I mean, ER, of course not, sweetie!"

"Come on, Kissa," said Lavender, taking Kissa's hand. "We're going to take you to Professor Dumbledore. You'll like him, I promise. And he'll find something better for you to eat." Lavender was used to managing children, at least. She had a little sister named Violet who was about Kissa's age.

"Okay!" replied Kissa. "What are your names, anyway?"

"I'm Parvati," replied Parvati. "And she's Lavender."

"Oh," said Kissa. There was a pause. "Lavender," she asked, "which magazine *should* a witch buy weekly?"

"ER, Witch Weekly," said Lavender.

"Oh," replied Kissa. She sounded slightly disappointed.




After taking Kissa to Professor Dumbledore, they told Seamus and Dean what had happened.

"Oh!" replied Dean. "Well that wraps everything up all Scooby-Doo like now, doesn't it?"

Lavender grinned.

Parvati and Seamus stared him as if he gone mad.

"pure-bloods!" Dean and Lavender said with a sigh, shaking their heads.

"That does wrap up everything though," said Lavender.

"Yes," agreed Parvati, "I suppose you're right... Except one thing... Who stole my Cotton Candy Bubble Gum Light Rose Sparkle Glamour Witch Lipgloss?"

Lavender looked down at the ground. "ER," she said.

"Lavender!" exclaimed Parvati. "How... You... Argh!"




That afternoon, Seamus approached Lavender. He was wearing leather trousers.

"ER, Seamus?" asked Lavender. "Why are you wearing leather trousers?"

"So that this will be a gratuitous leather trousers story and annoy people like Frog Fad and Gillenoen who probably aren't reading this story anyway," answered Seamus.

Lavender stared at him. "ER, go change, Seamus," she told him.

"Right!" replied Seamus.

A few minutes later, Seamus reappeared. Well he didn't exactly reappear, as he hadn't learned to Apparate yet, but he came down from his dorm, at least. "Will you go out with me, Lavender?" he asked.

Lavender looked up, surprised. Then she grinned. "Oh, Seamus!" she answered. "Of course not!"

Seamus' face fell. It was hurt very badly from falling, but the only thing Madame Pomfrey would do was give it an ice pack. "Why not?" he asked.

Lavender took a breath. "Okay, well Parvati said that when she was younger she asked out Fred Weasley and I've been thinking and he's really cute, and besides, my mum said I can't get married until I'm twenty, and I don't want to go out with you for five years! That would be... weird..."

Suddenly Seamus understood. It wasn't Dean who had gone mad. It was Lavender...




Everything sort of wound down after that. Team Chocolate Frog was disbanded

in favor of getting a reasonable number of O.W.L.s. Nobody really seemed really

any better for Team Chocolate Frog's efforts. But twenty years later, two pairs

of best friends looked back on it with amusement, the only difference in their

reaction being whether they said 'Stupid Slytherins!' or 'Stupid Gryffindors!'




Three years later...

"Oh, your new house is so cute!" gushed Parvati, giving her friend Lavender a hug. Parvati hadn't visited the Browns since they had lived in Liverpool. The Browns had moved to Gloucester a couple years ago.

Lavender blushed. "Thanks... I know it's not much... My family's never had that much money; at least won't be shock for me when Seamus and I get married. Divination Studies researcher doesn't pay much, nor does his job as Wizard Culture researcher."

"Still planning on marrying him, huh?" asked Parvati.

Lavender grinned. "Of course! Now, come on, you have to say hallo to Violet. She's gotten so much older, you wouldn't believe it!"

Lavender led Parvati, who didn't think she'd have trouble believing that someone had aged, into the living room, where Violet was watching television.

"Hallo, Violet!" said Parvati.

"Hi, Parvati!" replied Violet, running over to hug Parvati and Lavender and then going back to the floor to continue watching Pokemon.

Suddenly a red haired woman and a blue haired man appeared on screen.

"Prepare for trouble!" shouted the red haired woman.

"Make it double!" shouted the blue haired man.

To protect the world from devastation,

To unite all people within our nation,

To denounce the evils of truth and love,

To extend our reach to the stars above!

Jessie!

James!

Team Rocket blast off at the speed of light!

Surrender now, or prepare to fight!

Meowth! Dat's right!

Parvati and Lavender stared at each other, wide mouthed.

"Hey!" exclaimed Parvati. "They nicked our motto!"