A Change of Plans

Chapter Three

Patsy collapsed on Annie's bed.

"What I wouldn't give for a wand!" she burst out in frustration, punching on of the pillows.

Annie turned from her computer.

"Didn't work, huh?" she asked.

Patsy shook her head.

"Phase Five," she informed her friend, "is dead."

"Damn," Annie swore. "This guy is too good! I mean, what can we do to get rid of him! Did he even eat it?"

Patsy shook her head again.

"He's getting real smart. He checked in between the bologna before he ate it. If he tells your mom..."

Annie groaned.

"He hasn't told her about anything else, though. It's almost as though he likes this! God!" she burst out, slamming her computer desk with her fist. "This is impossible! Mom and him keep getting closer and closer, and..." She cast around the room for another topic. "What did you do with the worm?" she asked finally.

"Out in the yard."

"Oh."

They sat there for a moment, thinking. From downstairs, they heard a car pull into the driveway.

"Mom," Annie groaned yet again. "She's home."

"It's been only a month, and he's already living here!" Patsy burst out yet again. Annie nodded glumly.

The door opened and closed, and the two friends heard from downstairs Annie's mom.

"Girls! Would you come down here please? We've got something to tell you!"

The 'we' froze both of them.

"Girls?"

"Coming," Annie called back, a slight bite in her voice. "C'mon," she said to Patsy, "Let's go."

They went down the stairs and into the kitchen. There stood Eugene Holland and Sirus Blake, arm and arm. Patsy bit back a groan, and elbowed Annie to get her to stay civil. Since day one of this they had agreed that Mrs. Holland was not to know of their 'resistance movement'.

Eugene was positively beaming.

"Girls," she gushed, blushing a little, "girls, Sirus and I are going to get married!"

Both girls gripped each other to stop from falling to the floor.

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The hand that wore the engagement ring, the one that made Annie feel so sick, was gripping the phone unusually hard.

Eugene was unusually pale.

"Yes?" she asked anxiously into the receiver, blinking hard as though to keep from crying. "Oh, God...Yes...Mmmm hmmm...I'll be right down...As long as I need to be there...yes...I'll be there tomorrow...okay. Bye." And she hung up the phone, looking extremely worried.

"Darling?" she called, summoning Sirus into the room. Annie bristled noticeably.

"What is it?" he asked, looking worried about the look on her face.

"What is going on here?" Annie asked, rather rudely.

Her mother turned to her.

"It's Grandpa," she whispered, as though saying it aloud would make it true. "He--he's gotten worse."

For as second Annie forgot that her mother was marrying a guy not even a year after her husband died. For a second her world revolved around her grandfather.

"Grandpa?" she asked in a quavering voice. "It's...it's worse? Oh, Mom..."

"I'm going to have to go down," her mother said miserably. "For probably about a week."

"I'll take care of Annie," Sirus volunteered instantly, bringing Annie back to earth, and she shot him a dirty look.

"Good," Eugene said, not noticing the hostility. "I've got to leave right away."

In about fifteen minutes, she had thrown clothes and toiletries into a bag and was kissing Sirus on the cheek and hugging her daughter, a move that Annie couldn't help but accept, no matter how angry she felt toward her mother at the moment.

"Just don't kill each other," she called as she headed toward the car; a last stab of humor in a dire situation. Sirus's eyes twinkled. Annie glared.

And then her mom was gone.

After a second more of glaring, Annie informed Sirus that Patsy was sleeping over. Then she walked upstairs to call her friend and tell her what was going on.

The conversation did not take long, and within five minutes both girls were back in Annie's room, thinking what to do.

"Well," Patsy said, trying to take her friend's name off her grandfather. "At least we can do our pranking without parental interference."

Annie nodded, appreciating the gesture.

"Let's get thinking," she said, as Sirus called up the stairs.

"Girls! Supper!"

"We're not hungry," Annie snarled down the stairs.

"You're mother told me to make sure you all ate," Sirus said coldly, to which he earned himself a double glare.

"We're not eating," Patsy responded, equally coldly.

"Yes, you are," he said forcefully.

"That's what you think."

"Get down here, now!"

"Not happening."

"If you don't--"

But he never got to finish, due to the fact that the girls had suddenly disappeared. He ran up the stairs, but by the time he made it up, the girls were gone. Out the window and down the drainpipe. And off to Patsy's house.

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The next morning, at around six o'clock, the girls made to sneak back into the house. They hoped Sirus would be asleep, but weren't sure. Patsy pressed her ear up against the front door, and furrowed her brow.

"What's going on?" Annie hissed at her, and Patsy held up a finger to silence her, then whispered back:

"I think I might've heard wrong."

"What'd you hear?"

Patsy took her ear away from the door, and whispered, "I think he called out 'The Potters!', but obviously the door is corrupting my hearing."

"Well," said Annie, grinning, "Only one way to find out." And she tugged the door open in one quick pull.

Both girls gasped.

Sirus Blake's head was in the middle of the fireplace, and the fire was green.

"I didn't know you guys had a fireplace," Patsy hissed into Annie's ear.

"We don't," Annie hissed back, her eyes wide. "My God...Floo Powder!"

Patsy shook her head.

"This can't be real...It just can't be!" she said, a little too loudly, but not loudly enough to cover up Sirus's voice.

"James! James! C'mon, James, you're a father! The girls are gone! I can't find them anywhere!"

Both Annie and Patsy looked at each other, and their shock evaporated. They each formed identical evil grins, rushed forward and, together, pushed Sirus all the way into the fire, laughing as he disappeared. Patsy started to glance around the room.

"What're you looking for?" Annie asked, still laughing.

"Well..." Patsy said slowly, as though she didn't want to get her hopes up. "If that was Floo Powder, then..."

"Oh, yeah!" Annie cried out, it dawning on her too. "There!" She pointed to a small flower pot by the base of the fireplace, filled with powder. Patsy seized it, grabbed a handful, and threw it into the fireplace, stepping in after it and screaming "The Potters!"

She disappeared in a rush of flames, and Annie gasped.

Then she followed.