Sirens

Chapter 2

Anticipation

"Hey Seamus."

"Hi Callista."

His heart hit his throat again. He loved the smile that Callista gave him when she passed him, and the way she always said hi, no matter who she was with. It made Seamus feel...special.

"You're really going to have to get a move on, you know," said a voice in his ear.

"ARGH!"

Seamus jumped. Dean laughed.

"Don't do that again, I could have had a heart attack!" Seamus told his friend, crossly. "And whaddya mean 'I'm going to have to get a move on'? A move on what?"

"Asking out Diotrephes," said Dean, staring after Callista.

"Stop staring at her!"

"Keep your hair on, Finnigan, I was only looking."

"Well don't."

"You know, she's got a bloody good arse."

"Dean!"

"I'm sorry, but it's true; it is an excellent arse."

"You're disgusting," said Seamus.

"You fancy Clarissa," retorted Dean.

"Her name is Callista and I thought you just said she was hot!" said Seamus.

"I said she had a good arse, I didn't say she was hot. Although she is," said Dean, and a dreamy sort of look spread over his face.

"What are you thinking about?"

"A very enjoyable dream involving Clarissa that I had last night."

"Callista. What about Ginny? Isn't she supposed to be your girlfriend? Isn't it a bit like cheating to have dreams about another girl and stare at her?" said Seamus, raising his eyebrows.

"No," said Dean. "As long as I don't make a move and stuff I'm perfectly allowed to think another girl is cute. After all, you know Ginny has that huge crush on Oliver Lohan?"

"What? And you don't care?"

"Nah. I know she's not going to do anything about it," shrugged Dean. "If I caught her snogging him, yeah I probably would pull his head off, but if she just thinks he's good-looking I'm ok with it."

Seamus shook his head disbelievingly. He tried to imagine himself in Dean's situation and how he would react. Take a random girl - Callista Diotrephes, for instance. Yes, she'd do - and say he was going out with her (he felt his heart start to thump in his throat at even the idea of this). Say she had a crush on...Harry Potter. What would he feel like?

Furious, of course. Ready to claw Potter's face off. But what if he thought someone else was pretty? How would Callista feel if they were dating and he had a crush on Parvati or Lavender or Isabella?

Isabella? Why had that Slytherin bitch sprung into his mind? Coincidence, he reasoned. You don't like her so you think about not liking her a lot.

Even in his head it sounded stupid.

"Goddamn, it, we've got Potions next!" moaned Dean. "I hate Potions! And we're getting our essays back today! Awww!"

Seamus put up with Dean's moaning all the way to the dungeon, but turned away from Dean when a familiar voice said, "Hi Seamus! Hey, we're in the same Potions class! How is that for destiny?"

Callista positively beamed. Seamus found his mouth taking on the form of some uncontrollable - and no-doubt incredibly soppy - grin. He noticed Parvati scowling and felt slightly smug. Even if I don't get Callista, he thought, it'll still get Parvati jealous.

Someone jolted Seamus back to reality by bumping into his elbow.

"Ouch!" he said, turning around with a mind to severely tick off the irritating first year or whoever that had distracted him from his true love. However he found himself face to face not with a lower-student, but with Isabella.

"Sorry," she said.

"You'd better be! Barging into me like that," snarled Seamus, hatred rising up in him. He hated Isabella. Why did she have to be so bloody pretentious? All goody-goody and stuck up. Thinking she's so damn pretty.

"Geez, it was an accident!" said Isabella, looking miffed. Seamus felt a sense of satisfaction from this. He was finally annoying her!

"Yeah, right! There's never accidents with Slytherins!" Seamus said, getting more and more agitated. "Slytherins are always so prejudiced, generalising and...and... Don't be so innocent! I see right through you!"

Isabella was looking at him with a look of utmost disgust on her face. She didn't speak for a bit, but just her stare was making Seamus uneasy.

"If that's the case, Finnigan," she said, in a voice that could smash diamond, her eyes glittering dangerously, "I think you would make a much better Slytherin than me."

With that withering remark, she turned on her heel and walked over to Draco Malfoy and started to talk to him. Seamus stared after her in a foul mood.

"Mr Finnigan?"

Snape. Dammit.

"Mr Finnigan, would you kindly explain why you were shouting in the corridors?" said Snape, in an icy cool voice.

"Giordano barged into me."

"Sir."

"Sir."

Seamus was secretly seething. Snape wasn't even his Potions teacher any more! Why should he have to put up with this? He scowled.

"Miss Giordano, come out here," said Snape, coolly.

Isabella stepped forward.

"Yes sir?" she said.

"Did you barge into Finnigan?" asked Snape.

Seamus knew he'd been exaggerating, and he also knew that Isabella wasn't happy with him. He was going to be spectacularly punished when Isabella told Snape what had really happened.

"Yes, sir."

"Wha...?"

"I see," said Snape. "Was it really worth it to make such a fuss, Finnigan?"

"It was," said Isabella. "I knocked all his books out of his hands and an ink pot that smashed all over them. It was very messy. I guess I was kind of asking for it."

"Miss Giordano, I expect better conduct next time," said Snape. "Now get back into the queue and don't make me come here again."

Seamus was left gawping at Isabella.

"Why...what...why...?" was all he could think to say.

Isabella scowled at him.

"I only did that because I'm a decent human being," she said, in tones of intense dislike. "Don't go thinking that it means that I want to be buddies or pals or mates with you, Seamus Finnigan, because guess what? I don't like you. In fact I hate you! Stay the Hell away from me! From now on, we're enemies."

Seamus couldn't speak. How could she have the gore to tell him they were enemies, when he had been implying it ever since he first met her? He remembered what Isabella had said to him a few days ago. "You're so blind." How could she, a girl that had only just seen that he wanted to be enemies and not friends, claim that he, Seamus, was "so blind"?

"That's...that's perfectly fine with me," said Seamus, trying to put on a cool air. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'd been implying that you were my enemy from day one."

Isabella narrowed her eyes.

"Well you didn't imply it very well," she said, turning on her heel and stalking to the dungeon door, where a few Slytherin girls were watching and looking impressed. Seamus realised most of his class would have heard the row. Dammit, it'll be all round the school by lunchtime, he thought, kicking himself. Why did I have to make a big scene here of all places?

"Hi Seamus."

Seamus turned around. Callista was looking at him with a sympathetic expression on her face.

"I saw the way Giordano treated you," she said.

Did anyone not see? Seamus thought crossly.

"She was really unfair!" continued Callista. Seamus felt his heart leap.

"Yes, she was," said Seamus. "Very unfair."

Callista smiled at him.

"She's not worth you," she said. "She's not worth a millionth of you. She's not worth a nanosecond of your time. She not worth you even knowing what her name is."

"You know...you're right," said Seamus. The world was melting away, leaving only him and Callista, staring into each other's eyes. Her eyes are such a lovely blue, thought Seamus, and her smile is so friendly and pretty. It was like he could just be there forever, watching Callista...

"Hello chaps. In we go."

DAMMIT! Seamus thought angrily, but to his teacher he said, "Good morning, Professor Slughorn," along with the rest of the class as he sat down at his desk and got out his Potions books.

Whilst Slughorn introduced himself to Callista and Isabella, Seamus kept his eyes fixed on Callista. How could everything about her be so beautiful? She spoke nicely, she was graceful and she kept herself very neat. As for Isabella, well, she was the polar opposite. Her black curls were in a mess, she was sarcastic and she didn't seem to take a lot of pride in how she looked. She seemed more interested in getting good grades. Well, thought Seamus, she may get her NEWTs, but she's not going to get herself a husband!

Seamus spent most of the lesson wandering when the next Hogsmeade weekend was, and trying to pluck up the courage to ask Callista to come to it with him. What if someone else asked her first though? What if someone like Harry Potter asked her to come with him? She wasn't going to say no to a celebrity when the other option was a non-famous Irish half-blood. Oh hell!

After Potions Seamus could hardly even bring himself to look at Callista. He dragged Dean over to the notice-board to check the date of the Hogsmeade weekend with him.

"Oh hell! February 14^th," said Dean. "That means that all the shops will be full of pink hearts and confetti and cupids. I bet Ginny will want to go to one of them too. Dammit!"

"I don't think it's so bad," said Seamus, thinking of asking Callista to accompany him.

"It is," moaned Dean. "But I expect you'll be thinking of asking what's-her-face to come with you, won't you? Callista."

"Can't imagine what you mean," lied Seamus.

"Oh come on, it's the perfect opportunity for you. She'll think you're a hopeless romantic," said Dean.

"Yeah, and she's going to be very upset when she finds out I'm a hopeless dickhead," said Seamus.

"Just ask her!" said Dean. "Look, what's the worst thing that she could say?"

"She could say, 'No you're a useless fungus-like filthy organism I wouldn't be seen dead with in a plague pit."

"Really? Is that the worst you could come up with? What if she said you were a fu...?"

"Dean!"

"Sorry. But seriously, either you get a 50% chance of dating her, or you have no chance of dating her because you never asked her," said Dean. "COME ON!"

"Fine. I'll think about it," snapped Seamus, and went to dinner with Dean.

Dean surprised the table by producing what looked like a lunchbox full of round cakes. However when he opened it, they turned out to be...

"Dumplings," he announced proudly. "I made them."

"How?" asked Hermione Granger, eyeing them suspiciously.

"I snuck down to the kitchens," shrugged Dean. "The house-elves let me have a go at cooking. It was great! I suggested they use them for dinner tonight but they said they were too good to waste on everyone and I should just give them to a few people that I select. Isn't that nice of them? Are they really that good? Try one!"

Ron put his hand into the box and took out a dumpling. He put it on his plate, chopped a piece off it and put it in his mouth. He seemed to be chewing for an awfully long time before he said, "Err...yum," in a very unconvincing voice. It seemed to please Dean, however, who didn't notice Ron slip the dumpling on the floor whilst he was handing them up the table.

---

"Ohhhhh..."

Seamus moaned and clutched at his stomach. He hated being sick. It didn't help that Neville and Harry had just done it too.

"Owwww! Oh my frickin' God...!"

He rolled over on his bed and moaned.

Dean came in.

"I think my dumplings went down quite well," he said. "What's up with you three?"

"Your bloody dumplings!" said Harry, scowling from his bed.

"What was wrong with them?" asked Dean in surprise.

Seamus sat up.

"Dean, proper dumplings, and I mean real properly prepared dumplings, real dumplings when they are properly cooked to perfection, real dumplings do not bounce."

Dean looked offended. And like he didn't understand a single word.

"Where's Ron?" he asked.

"Hospital wing. He's just getting over the stomach pump," said Neville.

Dean looked a bit worried.

"They're not going to sue me or anything are they?" he asked.

"No," said Seamus, his pillow muffling the words. "Worse luck," he added under his breath.

He rolled over. He couldn't stand this. He was so bored. Dean was all worked up over his terrible cooking and Ron was in the Hospital Wing. As for Harry and Neville, well! They were alright as people but not exactly the most interesting company.

"I'm going down to the Hospital Wing," said Seamus, getting up. "I'll see how Ron's getting on."

"Tell him I said hi," said Harry.

Seamus nodded and left the dormitory. His stomach lurched with every step he went down, but he strode on and resolutely kept the awful cooking down until he bumped straight into Hermione Granger and a book.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" she asked him. Seamus noticed the title of the heavy-looking leather-bound book she was holding. The Odyssey was embossed on the front in gold.

"The Odyssey?" he repeated. "Why have you got that?"

"Oh, I bought it ages ago in Cambridge," shrugged Hermione. "I needed some light reading."

"Cambridge? What's Cambridge?"

"Oh, it's a city I live near," said Hermione. "And this really is a brilliant book. You should read it. You can borrow it. Here you go."

Before Seamus could protest he found The Odyssey thrust against his chest. He grabbed it to stop it falling on his toes and said, "Err...thanks."

"It's excellent," promised Hermione. "It's about Odysseus and his voyages and the Trojan horse...and Pisinoe, Aglaope and Thelxiepi..."

"Who?" asked Seamus in astonishment.

"The Sirens!" said Hermione dramatically. "They lured sailors onto the rocks with their beautiful song! Every man seemed to kind of fall in love with them, but they were really pure evil!"

"Ok, ok," said Seamus, slightly alarmed that Hermione was getting so excited over an old dead Greek's story.

"So where are you going?" asked Hermione.

"To see Ron in the Hospital Wing," said Seamus.

"Oh...tell him...tell him that I said hello," said Hermione, and Seamus could see the concern in her eyes. God, he though to himself, why can't those two just sort it out?

But to Hermione he said, "Yeah, ok, I will," and went off to visit Ron.

He went inside the Hospital Wing after persuading Madam Pomfrey that he wasn't going to poison, beat up, disembowel, strangle, stab, hex, poke or basically hurt Ron in any way. He got in and wandered over to Ron's bed.

"Hey," he said.

"Oh, hullo," said Ron, looking up from the comic he was reading. (This month's issue of The Adventures of Martin Miggs, the Mad Muggle.) "Why are you here?"

This seemed like such a stupid question that Seamus said, "Oh, I'm here to extract all your teeth and juggle with them before stuffing them down your throat."

Seamus heard two laughs, short one from Ron and a lovely, tinkling female laugh from behind him. He turned around to see Callista Diotrephes standing behind him. He felt his stomach go all soft and he felt sick, although maybe that was because of the dumplings.

"Hi, Seamus," she said. "I didn't know you were here."

"I...I came to visit Ron," said Seamus, gesturing towards Ron, who looked like he was about to burst out laughing. "Why are you here? Are you visiting him too?"

Say no say no say no, thought Seamus. If you say yes Ron will die HE WILL DIE AND HE WILL ROT IN HELL AFTERWARDS.

"Oh no, I'm here for something to help my stomach ache," said Callista, smiling. "I think-" she dropped her voice to a whisper "- don't tell Dean, but I think it was his dumplings. Poor boy, he was so proud of them!"

"Are...are you ok now?" asked Seamus.

"I'm fine now, thanks to Madam Pomfrey!" beamed Callista. "I'm going now. You?"

Seamus glanced at Ron. He gave him an "is that ok?" look. Ron sniggered and nodded.

"Yes, I'm going now too," said Seamus. "Seeya Ron. Get better soon."

"Will do," said Ron. "Bye Seamus. Bye, Callista."

"Goodbye, Ron," said Callista, smiling at Ron, but Seamus noticed - not without some satisfaction - that it wasn't the delighted beam she normally treated Seamus to.

"Will you walk with me up to Gryffindor Tower?" asked Callista, fixing Seamus with that flirty stare the second they were out of the Hospital Wing.

"Of course," said Seamus.

Now, said a voice in his head. Now's your moment. Now is the time that you should ask her. Ask her to come to Hogsmeade. Ask her. Ask her now.

"Err...Callista?"

Callista turned her face to look at him. She was really so beautiful.

"Yes, Seamus?"

"Would...would you...there's a Hogsmeade weekend on Val...the 14^th and..."

"What's a Hogsmeade weekend?" asked Callista, sounding interested.

"Oh, it's where everyone above third year can go down into Hogsmeade. It's a really nice all-wizard village," said Seamus. "Thing is, would you...would you like...to come to Hogsmeade with me?"

There. It was out. Seamus looked at Callista's face. It bore a strange look, as if she was analysing him.

She's going to say no, said Seamus's brain. You've asked at a really bad time and she's going to say no. You're going to regret this forever. She's going to turn you down you stupid idiot. Why did you ever think she'd say...?

"Yes!"

"Huh?"

Seamus suddenly found Callista's arms around his neck.

"Oh Seamus, I've been wanting you to ask me for sooooooooooo long," said Callista, in a voice that sent shivers down Seamus's spine. "Of course I'll go with you! And on Valentine's Day! You're so romantic! I was so right to have a crush on you!"

Seamus felt his heart swelling. SHE HAD SAID YES!