If Love is a Game...

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Don't Be So Tempermental

The next day, Sirius woke up slowly in his dormitory, the light pouring into his room. Suddenly, the events of what had happened last night fell down upon him and he jolted up, yelping and twisting in his bed sheets. He rolled off of his bed and slammed into the floor. He lied there when no one came to ask and see if he was alright. He groaned and looked around. He was the only one in the dormitory.

Realizing that he was probably trapped in his bed sheets, he pulled himself over to his trunk with his arms and opened it up. He found his watch and looked at it to find that it was eleven o'clock. He yelped again and tried to get up. When he stood up, he saw Padfoot Junior lying down on Remus's with his head cocked in the air, looking as if he thought Sirius was barking mad.

Suppose I am barking mad, Sirius challenged in his mind, as if he thought his dog could read his mind every day. Apparently, Padfoot Junior either read his mind and backed down or couldn't read his mind and got bored with him; Sirius would never know until he turned back into his Animagi form to give his puppy a good talk.

After around ten minutes of unraveling himself in--what he tried to do--light speed, he threw the sheets on his bed and changed into some casual clothing. He pulled his shoe on while digging through his trunk once again. Finally, he found his mirror; he could find James through this. He cleaned it off with his cuffs and tapped it (I'm not totally sure how this thing works so work with me here).

"Er...James? James?!" Sirius called uncertainly. Suddenly, James's perplexed face appeared into the mirror when he must have heard his friend's voice calling him.

"Sirius, I thought you were going to sleep until the N.E.W.T.s came around; we're already eating lunch now," James sniggered. "Um...why are you using the mirror in the first place?"

"Is everyone there?" Sirius demanded, ignoring his comment and his question. He raised an eyebrow, but checked, nonetheless. He looked back at him in the mirror.

"Yeah, they're all here," James replied calmly, shrugging his shoulders.

"Is Krystyna there?" Sirius questioned hoarsely. He looked around and then back into the mirror, grinning at him. He snorted.

"Nope, good thing to; I'd like to keep my appetite," James answered. Sirius glared at him heatedly, which caused James to wear another confused expression. "Um...did I miss something...?"

"Just get everyone up to the dormitory--now!" Sirius ordered loudly. James raised his eyebrows before his face completely disappeared. Sirius dropped the mirror and it luckily landed on his bed. He stormed out of the dormitory and stopped at the girls'. He wondered if he should knock. He banged on it. "Krystyna, hey, it's me, Sirius, can I talk to you for a second?!"

He went silent and stopped banging on the door. There was a shuffling noise behind it and then a click, telling him that someone was opening the door. It opened and he saw a tired looking Krystyna standing there, one hand holding her hair up in a messy bun, the other holding the doorknob.

"So it wasn't a dream after all?" she whispered. He gulped and shook his head. He wondered if he should have nodded his head, but felt as if he couldn't move. Silence followed them for a minute. They felt like old friends--and in actuality, they were. "Is there something you'd like to say?"

"Yes--well--no--actually--er...come with me!" Sirius stammered, grabbing hold of her wrist and tugging her into the boys' Seventh Year dormitory abruptly. She didn't fight or argue with him. He shut the door and sat down on his bed.

"Um...was there any certain reason you just dragged me into your dormitory?" Krystyna asked, quite surprised and looking bemused. He looked a bit antsy to her as he tapped his foot on the ground and stared at his fumbling fingers. She cautiously sat down next to him.

"Everyone is coming up here and you have to tell them what's going on," Sirius suddenly blurted. She jumped to her feet and gaped at him, shocked. She took a step back.

"I--I can't tell them! You weren't even supposed to hear me!" Krystyna gasped fearfully. "If someone finds out that I've told you all, you'll probably all die and I don't want you to! I can't tell them..."

"If you don't tell them, then I will," Sirius stated firmly. Her shocked look turned into a glare, but she definitely knew that she couldn't fight with him. She knew he was right. It wouldn't help if just two people knew and not everyone now. It would somehow get out whether she liked it or not. So, she frowned at him and sat back down next to him on his bed. "I promised you that I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you and I want to keep it."

At that exact moment, the door swung open and James trotted it. He looked at Sirius and then his eyes fell on Krystyna. He opened his mouth to say something when a hand slipped over his mouth. His eyes immediately bulged slightly. Lily walked up behind him, her hand still covering his mouth. She pulled him to his old bed and sat him down next to her. He furrowed his brow.

Next, Remus walked in, pulling Lorena behind him. When her eyes landed on Sirius and Krystyna--sitting together on his bed--she jumped a little, combed her fingers through her hair to scratch the back of her head, and sat down. Sara walked in and stopped to raise her eyebrows. Her shoulders dropped and she blew some air out of the corner of her mouth before she sat down.

Peter walked in after her and tripped over his foot. He looked up from the ground and jumped a little when he saw Krystyna and Sirius--together--in the same room--silence. He stood up with what could possibly be the world's most confused face, brushed himself off to save what little dignity he had left, and sat down on his bed across from Sara.

Lily slowly took her hand off of James's mouth. "What in the bloody hell is going on around here?!" James demanded fiercely, sounding and looking bemused. Lily raised a bored eyebrow at James and frowned at his choice of words.

"What James means is: Care to explain?" Lily revised, turning her bored gaze away from James and onto a pink-faced Krystyna, who looked down at her now fumbling fingers.

"I didn't cheat on Sirius with Malfoy; and I'm sorry I ignored you all," Krystyna muttered very slowly when James burped. They all looked at him, and he turned red. They looked back at Krystyna; she hated being under the spotlight. "I didn't want to, but I had to."

"You had to cheat--I mean--act like you cheated on Sirius with Malfoy and ignore us?" James asked rather bluntly, sounding, yet again, confused. He was confused about being confused. Wasn't being confused Peter's job around here? She nodded her head quite painfully. He sank a little. "Why...?"

"My dad and Samuel told me that if I didn't, then one of you--or your families--would get hurt or even killed," Krystyna mumbled hurtfully. "If I said anything and if I didn't do it by February Sixteenth, one of you could have been murdered."

"Murdered?" Peter squeaked with wide eyes, completely aghast.

"Surely not," Lily gasped, taken aback, putting her hand to her mouth. Krystyna nodded her head. "Who would have killed...us?" She looked up at the red-haired girl, but didn't know if she could answer her because it was her family. She must've been easy to read because Lorena jumped to her feet and told everyone herself.

"There were four people who could have killed you easily," Lorena explained smoothly, starting to pace around the room back and forth. They watched her and Krystyna was silently thanking her for taking the reigns of this explaining. "One of them is the most likely to do the dirty work. First of all, there is the ever idiot, Samuel Melanie, who is now a School Governor and could easily march up here with no questions whatsoever.

"Second of all, there is Krystyna's father--is it?--Robert Melanie--strange name for him, if you ask me, which you're not. Third of all, there's my uncle, Malfoy's father, who--I believe--is also a School Governor. And last, but I certainly do wish least, is my cousin, Malfoy's big brother, Marcus Malfoy, the prat. Need I say more?"

"Yes, you do," Sara piped up. She cocked her head. "How did you find out about these... threats against our lives?"

Lorena rolled her eyes. "It's called 'Accidental Eavesdropping', Sara," she answered coolly. "Basically, I wasn't supposed to know either. I couldn't sleep and went to get a drink of water and overheard the dumb four."

"So... you would chose to live a miserable life with Malfoy than see one of us die?" Lily asked in a barely audible whisper. Krystyna nodded her head. "And to think, we thought you had gone bad or something! We were so mean!"

"Oh, no, all those things I said to you!" James cried out, horrified. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry--"

"It's alright, James; I understand why you were so angry," Krystyna sighed, wondering if he might break down in tears or something. It wasn't that bad seeing him this apologetic. He got onto his knees and lied on the ground.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" James ranted in a really regretful voice. Everyone just watched in amusement, except Krystyna, who was not used to this side of him. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"James, it's quite alright; I understand now," Krystyna said clearly, a little louder than before. He started rising up and down to her, laying his hand at her feet. Now this was getting ridiculous. "James, I know you're sorry so you don't have to keep saying it! Just sit back down on the bed with Lily..."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" James raved in a deeply mournful voice. She rolled her eyes at him. Lorena pointed her wand at him.

"Silencio!" Lorena said lazily. Immediately, James's voice disappeared. While his mouth was still moving and he was still bowing to Krystyna, there was no sound coming out of him. He stopped, suddenly coming to the realization that his voice was gone, and glared at Lorena, mouthing a few more things angrily. "Sit down, James. Now, are there anymore questions?"

James sat down and began to pout. They all thought a little harder. They all knew Krystyna was innocent, but if someone found out that they knew, they would be killed.

"Are the four...Death Eaters?" Remus asked calmly. Peter made an odd squelching noise while James's eyes widened. Sara shifted into a more comfortable position.

"Yeah," Krystyna murmured. Lily and Sara gasped, Sirius scowled, Remus bit his lip and then frowned a little, James started mouthing more irate things angrily (lucky Lily couldn't hear him because they were not pretty words), and Peter collapsed onto his bed.

"What are we going to do outside of these walls?" Lily asked quietly. "I don't want to leave you like this again--never. You're my best friend, Krystyna, and it just wasn't the same without you."

"Yeah, it wasn't as cheerful or happy without you," Sara sighed sadly, shaking her head, "but if we walk out of here like friends again, we're dead--or our family."

"There are some things worth dying for," Sirius muttered gravely, looking at Krystyna, who was again looking down at the floor. The rest nodded their heads in agreement. "The only we can face this is head on and it's going to be dangerous, but there could be a way out of this."

"What?" Sara asked quickly.

"Tell the almighty Albus Dumbledore, of course!" Sirius exclaimed, grinning. "And if we do start becoming friends back in public, Samuel or Malfoy's dad is likely to show up. We make a scene, get them riled up, and get them sent to Azkaban for life!"

"That, by far, is the most ludicrous idea I have heard in my entire life, Sirius," Lily said bluntly, giving him another bored look. He grinned and shrugged his shoulders. She suddenly smiled. "Let's do it."

"It's the only thing we can do," Sara sighed slowly. "There's not much else, if anything at all." The rest nodded their heads. Remus was deep in thought, plotting revenge on Malfoy. After all, he was the plotter of the Marauders and this had to be dead set perfect if it was going to work.

"So...what do we do?" Peter asked curiously. Everyone looked at each other nervously. They hadn't gotten that far yet into their scheme.

"Well, first, we need someone to distract Malfoy and a lot of others while the rest of us slip into Dumbledore's office unnoticed. If we're seen going in, Krystyna's or Lorena's family will be notified and it's off with our heads," Remus explained calmly. Everyone was watching him closely. "We tell him everything and then we get out, seemingly harmless. After the distracter spits everything out into Malfoy's face, he'll probably tell someone and someone will come.

"And then, when that happens, we must get them worked up enough to lose control of their temper and blurt a few things out. After their blunder, they'll probably try to redeem themselves, but we must get them even angrier. But we have to be in places where we can duck a Killing Curse or something else along the lines. Personally, I don't want to die yet. Then, it's off to Azkaban with them!"

"Sounds far out," Lily pointed out. James was sulking because he could not put any input of this decision because he still had the Silencing Charm on him.

"When should we do this?" Krystyna asked softly.

"Next Friday would be the perfect time," Remus noted professionally, "right after classes."

"Alright, who's going to be the distracter?" Sirius asked. Lorena, who had been looking out of the window and listening to everything, suddenly turned around with a grin on her face, leaning against the wall.

"Oh, yeah, I'll so be doing that," Lorena said, smirking. And so, the plan was conceived slowly but surely as every little detail was worked out. Remus, being the brains that he was, was doing most of the planning.

James had the Silencing Charm lifted--only after he promised that he wouldn't start ranting apologies again. Lorena had started pacing again while Sirius and Krystyna listened very keenly. She had her friends back. She had Sirius back. She couldn't help but smile.

~*~

It was Friday and classes had ended. It was dinner time and everyone was in the Great Hall. Krystyna, who had gone back to the Gryffindor common room to talk to Lily, Sara, and Lorena about the plan, was walking into a bathroom before she went inside the Great Hall. She locked herself in a stall and sat down on a toilet, digging through her pack. She pulled out a mirror.

"Oh, how does this thing work?" Krystyna sighed, turning it around. "What am I supposed to do with it? Just say, 'Hey, Sirius!' or something else? He never bothers to tell me how these things are supposed to work..."

"Krystyna, is that you?" a voice asked from somewhere. She looked down and saw Sirius's face in the mirror instead of her own reflection.

"Ah!" Krystyna snapped her hands back and the mirror flew in the air. She fumbled with it, but regained a good grip on it again. She pulled the mirror closer to her face. "How does it do that? Can you see me?"

"Yeah, I can see you just fine, Krystyna," Sirius replied. Her eyes widened and she shook her head. "Are you ready to do this?"

"Yeah, if you are," Krystyna said calmly. He nodded his head. "Are the others ready?"

"Totally ready for this," Sirius answered, nodding his head more. "All you have to do is come to the Great Hall and eat some dinner and then leave quickly. You wait for us in the common room. When we get there, you leave. Of course, James will come after you, saying a few things to get everyone thinking that you're just running away from him.

"Of course, Malfoy will come out and that's where Lorena comes in. I'm really sad that I'm going to miss their little tiff. Anyways, while Lorena is screaming at Malfoy--probably--we'll slip into Dumbledore's office, as both James and Lily know the password to get in. We have to hurry up and tell him so we can get back out before anyone notices. We also have to make sure that Lorena or Malfoy don't kill each other in reality. Sound easy enough?"

"No... But we have to do it today anyways," Krystyna said honestly. He grinned in the mirror and then looked around the place.

"I've got go," Sirius told her quickly, winking at her. "Duty calls." He disappeared from the mirror and she could see her own reflection again.

"Sirius! Sirius, what duty? What are you talking about? Sirius!?" Krystyna shouted at the mirror. He didn't respond nor did he reappear. She sighed with frustration and replaced the mirror back into her pack. "And they say girls never explain things..."

~*~

"...when are you going to change that red and gold tie to green and silver?" James demanded as he chased Krystyna down the hall passed the Great Hall. It seemed like everything was normal--or what became normal a month and a half ago. Some people watched while others continued to pass them by like usual. Lucius Malfoy came out of the Great Hall.

"Oh, hello, future Home Wrecker," James said calmly, waving at Lucius as he passed him. "Hey, hey, I have something else to say Melanie...!"

Lucius just stood there looking shocked. James Potter had just called him a what? How dare he? He glowered at the Gryffindor as he continued to insult Krystyna. All of a sudden, in a flash of colors, Lorena jogged quickly to catch up with the two.

"James Potter, will you just knock it off for one second or am I going to have to knock you off!?" she yelled after him furiously, her wand gripped tightly in her hand. When he didn't respond to her, she stopped suddenly, her blonde bangs falling into her eyes, and pointed her wand at him. "That's it; I've had it with you and your rudeness! Petrificus Totalus!"

The beam of light that shot out of Lorena's wand barely missed James, as he had fallen to the ground when he heard her speak the words. It hit the wall and dissolved into nothing. A few people looked around while James got to his feet slowly.

"Fine, Lorena," he grumbled, walking passed her. Then, he whispered so she could only hear, "Good luck with Malfoy."

She inclined her head ever so slightly and he rounded the corner where the others were waiting for him so they could act like they were going to the library. They knew that Krystyna was going to meet them in front of Dumbledore's office soon. They walked passed Lorena again, Lily dragging a sour looking James along with her.

"Lorena, we're going to the library to study for the N.E.W.T.s," Lily explained evenly.

"Wanna join the club and make it an odd number?" Sirius added. She looked up at them while putting her wand back in her pocket.

"No, thanks, I think I'll happily spend my resting hours in the common room sleeping on the couch," she replied coolly. "I have all day Sunday for studying. But thanks for asking; you know how much I just love studying for tests."

"Fine, suit yourself," Sara sighed, shaking her head. "Don't come running to us when you realized that you can't cram all that knowledge in your brain in just one day."

Lorena shrugged her shoulders and waved enthusiastically before they rounded the corner and left her sight for the time being. She exhaled a little and put her fingers in her hair, lifting it up a little. She yawned and turned around, letting her hair fall, but rammed into Lucius--on purpose. She took a step back and gazed at him through muzzy eyes.

"Ah, my dear cousin, the one I so detest, what can I do for you since you've done so much to ruin my life for me, hm?" Lorena greeted pleasantly, smiling at him almost too innocently. He looked at her rather suspiciously.

"Did someone hit you with another Tranquility Charm, Lorena?" Lucius queried curiously, bending down to her level.

"Did someone hit you with another Be-Dense Charm, Lucius?" Lorena asked coolly, smirking at him and crossing her arms across her chest. He glowered at her and stood up straight, shoving his hands in his pocket where his wand was--just in case, he figured.

"No, I haven't, Lorena," Lucius sighed, still glowering at her.

"Of course, you haven't, how silly of me," Lorena said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "But of course, this comes from a boy who has to have his father and big brother hand over the girl he wants to him."

"What are you talking about?" Lucius hissed, agitated and thoroughly annoyed. She merely smirked at him again and leaned in closer to him.

"Oh, I think you know exactly what I'm talking about," Lorena murmured sneeringly. "Why, haven't you told everyone else that it was not your looks, stupidity, money, and sour attitude that gave Krystyna to you, but your daddy and Marcus? Are you taking the credit all for yourself?"

"What are you--?" Lucius growled, aggravated, and then his eyes widened in disbelief. "How did you find out? Tell me, how do you know about that?"

"Now, now, dear cousin, there's no need to get nasty," Lorena chortled cheerfully, smirking a little broader this time. "After all, it's not like you can go owl daddy dearest or Marcus to come up here and threaten me to shut up or kill me. They said that I was different. They said that I'd probably murder you without a second thought. And you know, that idea is starting to look rather appealing to me."

"Tell me, Lorena, how did you find out about that?" Lucius demanded under his breath forebodingly. She narrowed her eyes at him dangerously.

"I listen," Lorena merely whispered, leaning back again to laugh at him as his pale cheeks flushed red with anger. She shook her head and turned around to walk away. He glared at her furiously as she continued to walk away from him, laughing, very aware that he was pulling out his wand.

"Lorena, Lorena, get back here now!" Lucius shouted after her heatedly. She simply ignored him and persisted on walking away and chortling happily. He pointed his wand at her. "Stupify!"

Lorena, who had been waiting for something like this to happen soon enough, spun around with her wand already at hand, ringing, "Protégé!" The red spell was deflected and she was not stunned. She pushed her hair out of her eyes, glaring at him. "Hm, what was that for? I don't think it's very fair of you for leaving everyone in the dark. Why don't you tell everyone of that 'Master Plan', eh? I'm sure they would just love to hear all of it in detail!"

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Lucius hissed acidly, waving his wand at her. She smirked at him.

"Why? Is there something that's not very good in the story?" Lorena said loudly, smirking still. Many people had stopped to watch the scene. He was getting redder the more she talked. "Maybe the bad part is when four certain people threaten the lives of five others' here in our very own Hogwarts!"

A few people gasped. This was not an innocent bicker between cousins like usual. Now they knew that this was something very different. What none of them knew was that Lorena had known that this was exactly how he was going to act.

"Um... What are you talking about, Lorena?" Lucius asked, smiling feebly. He was trying to now act like he was innocent and had no clue what his cousin was talking about. She knew he did know everything though. "What are you rambling on about?"

"Oh, I know you know what I'm 'rambling on about'," Lorena sighed gleefully. "You can't to do anything without the help of your mummy, daddy, and big brother, can you, Malfoy? Oh, but this is so big, you need the help of another guy and another boy your brother's age, isn't that right? You have to get them to stoop so low as to saying that someone could have an accident! You're nothing but a coward and you can't do anything yourself."

"I don't need help from anybody to get what I want!" Lucius yelled at her. "But you--you need the help of those pitiful excuses you call your friends! You're the one that can't do anything yourself!"

"At least I have people around me that I can actually call my friends!" Lorena shouted back furiously. "At least I have people that care! Who do you have, Malfoy? Is Snape someone you can call your best friend; is he someone you can trust all your deepest secrets with? What about Narcissa Black; do you walk around with her and just talk for no apparent reason? What of Nate Zambini or Rodolphus Lestrange; are they people who you can truly say that you'd do anything for? No, you can't, and that's just lame.

"You don't do anything. You just order people around and have your dirty deeds done. You're so pitiful, you have your family give you the girl you want to marry! You have to make a girl miserable so you can be happy! Are you happy now? Are you happy now that you've ruined two lives--and possibly more? Are you happy, you selfish, ignorant immature prat--?!"

SLAP!

What had just happened would never have been expected to happen in a trillion years. In fact, everyone around--that saw what had just happen--gave a loud simultaneous gasp (think Janet Jackson's "Wardrobe Malfunction" halftime show gasp, if you saw it, lol). Even Lucius looked shocked that it'd happen.

Lorena's jaw dropped as she touched her cheek gingerly. He regretted it before it even happened. Lucius had just smack Lorena very hard. In fact, her cheek was red and stinging. He looked astonished that he had done such a thing. Everything seemed to have frozen in time. He took a staggering step backwards away from her.

"You...slapped me. You...slapped me." Lorena's eyes suddenly narrowed very dangerously. Lucius's eyes widened fearfully at this. She clenched her fists and shut her mouth quickly, her face turning into a dark scowl. "I'm going to throttle you until you turn blue, Malfoy, you slimy Slytherin nark!"

Oh, dear Lord, they better hurry before I kill Malfoy for good this time, Lorena thought as she chased after Lucius, who had begun to run down the hallways for the Slytherin common room.

"Miss Fawcett, for the fiftieth time, no running or screaming in the corridors--" Professor Lector, their Potions Master, suddenly stepped in front of her, blocking her view of Malfoy, whose tail she had been right on until now. She tried to come to a screeching halt, but was unsuccessful and instead collided with her professor. Needless to say, it was not a pretty picture. He was now on the ground with a severe headache and she had thrown herself across the floor.

Though her head was pounding and her back was throbbing painfully, Lorena got herself to her feet clumsily, very dazed. Through her blurry vision, she saw Lucius not able to get passed an exceptionally large group of First and Third Years. He was looking very nervous. She looked back at her professor, who was just now getting up.

"Sorry professor, but I really do need to teach that shmuck a lesson," Lorena huffed hurriedly, rubbing the back of her head. "Now, you get back here, Malfoy, this instant--that is, unless you want me to shout out to the entire school of Hogwarts what Marcus's and your dad's big plan was!"

"No, Lorena, see, you have to shut up about that!" Lucius said, trying to calm her down with his hands in front of him. She stomped over to him.

"Oh, so you're admitting to it, are we?" Lorena snapped viciously. He shook his head and began to wave his hands in the air in front of him very hastily. "Liar! You know and you're just too ashamed to admit it out in public! You're just too ashamed to admit that you'd ruin people's lives and make then live a miserable life to suit your own! You don't deserve her or to even be here!"

"Shut the bloody hell up, Lorena, before I make you!" Lucius yelled angrily.

"Make me then, Malfoy!" Lorena retorted crossly. "I dare you!"

"Alright, then, I will," Lucius hissed icily. "You may know, but you never did anything about it, now did you? You failed her. Wouldn't that make it your fault?"

He raised his wand at her and she did the same. He glared at her and sent a hex her way. Luckily, she dodged it, but then was hit with some type of charm. She assumed it was the Disarming Charm because now, her wand was flying in the air gracefully and she was skidding on the ground--ungracefully. He caught her wand and sneered at her.

Positively livid, Lorena scrambled to her feet and ran after him, but right when she was about to tackle him or something that came to mind randomly, someone snatched her and pulled her back away from him quickly. She fought with them, but soon realized that she wasn't going to win.

"It's his fault! It's his fault! He slapped me! His dad did it and Marcus and Samuel and her dad! It's all of their faults!" Lorena shrieked madly, trying to pull away from her unnamed opponent, unaware of the hot tears now streaming down her face. "He's an insensitive jerk that just needs his way all of the time! It's all their faults! They're all liars...!"

"Miss Fawcett, Miss Fawcett, you need to calm down this instant!" a man's voice told her harshly. "You need to quiet down and calm yourself!"

"They did it! Now I have to constantly watch my back, but I don't care! As long as you know that it's their fault and not mine!" Lorena yelled, still fighting to get away. "I couldn't do anything about it and you know it, Malfoy! You know it all!"

"Miss Lorena Fawcett, will you calm down!?" someone snapped agitatedly. "And what are you raving on about? What did they do that was their fault? What couldn't you do? What does Mister Malfoy know? And why do you now have to watch your back?"

"Their...fault." Lorena was exhausted and she didn't feel like fighting anymore. Her knees gave way and she fell to the floor. She soon realized that it had been Professor Lector who had been holding her back from murdering Lucius. He was still sneering unmercifully at her and she glowered at him.

"For this wild unruliness and outburst, that's three nights of detention and thirty points from Gryffindor, Miss Fawcett," Lector wheezed exasperatedly, holding his side and shaking his head. "Dear heavens, I'm getting too old for this and I'm not even forty yet. I don't see how Dumbledore lasted this long."

Lucius turned around and was about to walk away from the scene a smirking Slytherin Seventh Year--with Lorena's wand still--when he was stopped short by Professor McGonagall, who had also just witnessed the entire scene. Her nostrils were flaring.

"Miss Fawcett, what in Merlin's name was that all about?" McGonagall demanded, irritated. She was too busy trying to breathe to answer her professor. The woman looked up at Lector, who was also in no state to answer her, so she turned to Lucius. "Mister Malfoy, since when did you acquire two wands?"

"I--uh--you see--er--that's a very funny question--erm..." Lucius was unable to come up with a plausible lie to tell. She looked at him skeptically and extended her hand out.

"As I suspected, this must be your cousin's wand, no doubt. You were dueling, were you not?" McGonagall sighed irritably as Lucius handed her Lorena's wand. "That shall be twenty points from Slytherin and two nights of detention for you, Mister Malfoy."

He gawked at her, but said nothing as she walked back over to Lorena and handed her wand, her lips very pursed and on the edge of reprimanding her. But she was sure Professor Lector had already done that since she had heard him. Suddenly, Remus and Sirius came jogging up behind Lector, Lily and James right on their tail with Sara behind her. Peter was trailing far in the back.

Remus sat down next to Lorena. "What happened?" he asked her worriedly, looking down at her. She rubbed her red cheek and glared at Lucius, who was falling back into the now thinner crowd. Lily stood behind James and kept a hand on his shoulder to refrain him. Lucius smirked and shrugged his shoulders carelessly. Sirius glowered at him.

"C'mon, let's go back to the Gryffindor common room," Remus said soothingly, helping her up to her feet and walking away. Sirius raised his eyebrows at a breathless Professor Lector as he passed him.

"What did...Dumbledore say?" Lorena questioned breathlessly.

"He told us to not worry about getting hurt at Hogwarts," Lily explained a little. "He told us that he would make sure that we wouldn't get killed and he owled the Minister of Magic right away about those four being... you knows."

"Is that it?" Lorena asked faintly.

"No, but we'll tell you the rest when we get to the safety of the common room," Sara noted quietly. She nodded her head. "That's where Krystyna's waiting for us."

"By the way, nice diversion back there," James commented, shaking her hand jokingly. "I have to say, no one even noticed us walking passed them." She gave them a wan smile before they entered the Gryffindor common room.