A Change of Plans

Chapter Two

The next morning Annie walked back to the house, waving glumly back at Patsy, whose mother had refused to let her back at the house, due to the mess in her room because of last night.

Annie was not looking forward to going home; she did not know what she would see, and she was scared. When she saw Sirus Blake's car still in the driveway, her stomach plummeted.

"Great," she muttered as she shuffled up the driveway and through the front door.

"Annie!"

She looked up and her mother started toward her, arms outstretched. Annie dodged under them, looking for Sirus. She saw him, sitting at the table across from where her mother had been sitting, grinning at her.

"Good morning, Annie."

Annie frowned. His accent was different. English. British. Odd, a Brit around here. She was again reminded of what Patricia had said, "Sirus Blake...Sirius Black.." and then pushed the thought from her mind.

"It's Annie-Elizabeth."

Sirus Blake's smile faltered for an instant, then came back, as though she had not been cold or nasty.

"Alright, Annie-Elizabeth it is. Why don't you sit down and eat something?"

He's really trying hard, Annie thought, and the idea made her feel angry. He had no right to be here at all!

"No thanks," she said to him, "We had some pizza at the Dore's." Which was true, though Annie was still hungry. "I think I'll go upstairs."

"No!" This was Eugene. Annie had had this happen before; her mother always wanted her and Patsy to get to know her new boyfriend, instead of trying to chase him away. "Pizza really isn't that healthy, Annie, you need some real food, sit down!"

Annie rolled her eyes.

"Mother, just in case you haven't read the 'Food Guide Pyramid's Food Guide' this week, pizza has grain, a major food group, tomato sauce is a vegetable, or a fruit, depending on your point of view, cheese is dairy, and pepperoni is meat. Therefore, pizza is real food."

Annie took a breath. Sirus Blake bust out laughing. She glared at him. Her mother sighed.

"Fine, Annie. I just wish you wouldn't be so hostile."

Annie snorted and headed up the stairs to her room, wishing very much to slam the door behind her but resisting, knowing that her mother would insist that she tell her what was wrong.

She booted up her computer. It was slow; an old Windows 95 that could barely get online. Fortunately the sites she visited on a regular basis did not involve many pictures or things that took up a lot of space. Just text.

She hit the Internet and waited five minutes for it to boot up. She checked her buddy list. Patsy was on. Most likely she was online instead of cleaning her room.

Finally her e-mail popped up. Nothing new. She never got mail. She quickly went up to the url bar and typed in FictionAlley.org and waited for it to load up. While she was waiting, Patsy IMed her.

IMAPotterFreak: Hey, Annie. Sirius Black still there?

Annie sighed. Some things never changed.

imaMAJORpotterfreak: I wish. Just some Sirus Blake. And Mom REALLY likes him. We'd better get going, and fast.

IMAPotterFreak: Way ahead of you. I've got the basics: itching powder, hot pepper, you know. But we need something VERY special for this guy. He saw through Phase 1 and so we need to think of something Fred and George like. No --- better. Something MWPP like.

imaMAJORpotterfreak: So true. But what?

Annie was distracted for a moment by the fan fiction site finishing it's loading. She clicked on Astronomy Tower; the romances were her favorites.

IMAPotterFreak: Well, until we think of something better, we best get on with Phase 2. I'm almost done cleaning here. Meet you on the trampoline later?

imaMAJORpotterfreak: Why the tramp.?

IMAPotterFreak: :D You'll see. Just bring PLENTY of pillows.

imaMAJORpotterfreak: OK. CU.

IMAPotterFreak: Definitely.

Annie smiled as she signed off and turned her attention to the fan fic on the screen. Though she doubted Phase Two would chase Mr. Blake away, it was the only plan they had. Anyway, he might just have been lucky with Phase One. She smiled again, and focused fully on the Lily/James before her.

<><><><><><>

Patricia Dore was a thinker. True, both she and her friend Annie were brilliant, in league with Padfoot and Prongs, both of them thought (except for the nasty part). But it was Patsy who thought up much of their pranks and schemes, and Annie who made sure they worked, as well as helping Patricia's over-active imagination to come back to earth every once in a while.

Patsy smiled to herself as she started toward Annie's house, pillows crammed under her arms. She estimated that she had about six there, but she wasn't sure; she had just grabbed as many as she could find and left, not anxious for her mother's persistent questioning. The plan was fully formed in her mind.

Phase Two was simple: act so weird that you scared the guy away. What self-respecting guy would date a woman whose house two insane and potentially dangerous teenager's shared? But beneath the smile, Patsy had her doubts about this one. He had, after all, seen right through Phase One. Not a good sign. But if he was to be scared away without bodily harm, this plan was the best one to do it.

Annie was by the trampoline already, about four pillows on the ground. Patsy's private smile grew to an all-out grin. This was going to be good.

Patsy had barely made it to the trampoline when Annie started asking questions.

"Okay, what exactly are we doing here? And what are the pillows for?"

Patsy kicked off her shoes and started piling pillows on the trampoline. Annie did the same.

"We're following through on Phase Two," Patsy patiently explained in a soft voice, so as not to be overheard. "Pillow fight on the tramp. Plenty of yelling and screaming--not to mention death threats." The grin grew. "And it's fun at the same time."

Annie surveyed her doubtfully.

"It sounds too simple. Too...too not-scary."

Patsy tutted and shook her head sympathetically.

"It'll be fine," she said, climbing onto the trampoline. "Don't worry, just follow my lead."

"Okay," Annie replied, still doubtful, also climbing on.

They bounced around for a second, avoiding the pillows. There were so many of them that they kept falling off and the girls had to climb down and throw them on once again. Then Patsy made her move.

She grabbed a huge pillow that came from her mother's bed, held it over her head, and screamed in absolute madness "PILLOW FIGHT!" and flung the pillow at Annie.

Annie caught on quickly, and soon the air was full of flying pillows as well as feathers and cotton stuffing.

"TAKE THAT!"

"AAAAAAAAHHH!!"

"MWAHAHAHAHA!"

Patsy was knocked off the trampoline by a particularly violently thrown pillow, She landed in a pile of leaves on the ground, and started to get up. But before she could, Annie gave her a wicked grin and flung a pillow on her head.

"I'VE JUST KILLED PATSY, AND I'M TRIUMPHANT!" she screamed.

Patsy jumped right back up, her grin matching that of her best friend's. She clambered back on the trampoline and with one hit of a pillow, knocked the unsuspecting Annie to her knees. Annie groaned.

"Ah...my neck..." she said, rubbing it, and Patsy's grin grew wider.

"I'VE JUST BROKEN ANNIE'S NECK AND I'M TRIUMPHANT!" she called, aiming her shout toward the house. Then, quite abruptly, she found herself being driven to her knees. Her finger slid against the metal coil that held the trampoline's canvas to it's frame.

"Hey! I'm bleeding!" she called at Annie, who opened her mouth wide.

"PATSY'S BLEEDING AND I'M TRIUMPHANT!"

"ANNIE JUST CRACKED HER HEAD OPEN, AND I'M TRIUMPHANT!"

"Erm...I DON'T KNOW WHAT I JUST DID TO PATSY, BUT I'M TRIUMPHANT!"

"WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE?" came the voice of Sirus Blake from inside the house. He sounded worried. Annie and Patsy gave each other triumphant grins. Time for part two of the plan.

Grabbing as many of the pillows as they could, the two of them sprinted up the hill to the house, and through the door, right past Mr. Blake. As planned, Annie came in first.

Grinning widely in an evil sort of way, Annie called out, "I JUST KILLED PATSY AND I'M TRIUMPHANT!!"

Sirus Blake looked surprised, but not as if he believed her. In fact, if Annie hadn't known better, she would've thought that there was a smile playing with his lips. This made her feel angry, and so she threw all the pillows she could at him. Most missed, but a couple hit him round the head, hard. They nearly knocked him off his feet.

Annie raced up the stairs, as planned, and Patsy ran in the open door next, slamming it behind her.

"I'M GOING TO KILL ANNIE AND I'LL BE TRIUMPHANT!" she screamed.

Now Sirus Blake started all-out laughing. It was then that Patsy, and Annie, who could hear the laughter from upstairs, knew that Phase Two was a dud. It hadn't worked.

Time to move on to Phase Three.