Mysterious Ways

Much to her delight, Alice was the first one awake the next morning. She showered and dressed as fast as she could, ran a brush through her long dark hair, and made her way down to the Great Hall.

That must be the fastest I've ever got ready, Alice mused to herself as she entered the Great Hall. Besides her, there were only seven or eight more people in there. As she walked past the Gryffindor table, she saw Melissa and Sophie whisper to each other, look at her, and then burst out laughing.

OK, that's weird. Alice eyed them uneasily as she passed, her hand automatically reaching towards her cheek. Have I got something on my face? Is there something wrong with my hair?

Alice grabbed her hand mirror out of her pocket and frantically checked for any offending pimples or kinks. However, she could find nothing so awful that it could be the source of mockery.

Oh, well. I suppose being complete bitches is all they know. Alice grabbed a stack of toast from the Ravenclaw table and headed toward the tree next to the lake.

Alice looked up at the sky dubiously. The weather was starting to get colder and it looked like it was going to rain. Soon she and Lily would have to start sitting inside.

Alice took a bite of toast and watched a couple of sixth-years walk by. One of them pointed at Alice and the two of them laughed.

Alice frowned. What is going on with everyone today? She doubled-checked her reflection in the mirror, but still there was nothing wrong.

Alice began feeling very self-conscious as more people walked by, staring at her. She was just about to get up and leave when Lily flew over, completely out of breath.

"What's up with you?" Alice asked.

Lily sat down, huffing and puffing, and grabbed some of the toast. She took a bite and chewed slowly, her breathing becoming steadier. Alice waited impatiently for her to finish. Finally Lily swallowed and glanced around cautiously.

"Lily, what's up?" Alice inquired again. She noticed a second-year Gryffindor pass by and smirk at her.

Alice jumped to her feet. "What is happening today? Has someone hexed me so boils sprout over my face or something? Everyone's been laughing at me and I have no idea why!"

From the corner of her eye, she saw Lily flinch. "What?" Alice demanded. "Do you know something I don't?"

"Erm, actually, Al, I know why," Lily said nervously.

"Why?" Alice sat back down next to Lily. "What is it?"

Lily chewed on her lip. "You're not going to like it."

"Lily, you're starting to freak me out," Alice said bluntly. "What's up?"

Lily glanced around nervously and began rooting in her bag. Alice waited impatiently until Lily found a screwed up piece of paper and handed it silently to her.

Alice smoothed it out and read what it said:

Tired of being single and alone? Looking to meet the person of your dreams? Well, look no further, because Alice Tyler, aka Miss Matchmaker, is here to help!

Miss Matchmaker is offering her full services to help you find your perfect match. It doesn't matter who you are; Miss Matchmaker is here for you all. Are you too scared to talk to the one you love? Worried that you'll never find 'The One'? Any romantic problems you may have, Miss Matchmaker has the solution! Service is free; Miss Matchmaker is more than willing to help you people as she loves nothing better than meddling in people's lives!

Contact Alice Tyler: Seventh year, Ravenclaw Tower. Satisfaction guaranteed!

"WHAT?" Alice shrieked, jumping up. Some people nearby looked around in alarm and moved away.

"It was posted on the wall of our common room this morning," Lily gabbled quickly. "I knew you wouldn't like it - it must be someone playing a practical joke."

Alice scanned the paper again. "Yeah, and not a very good one, either!" she said furiously. "I can't believe someone would do this!"

"I know," Lily agreed. "It's not even funny, it's just stupid. I took it down as soon as I noticed it, but I don't know how many other people saw it on their way out."

"It looks like everyone did!" Alice said. She screwed up the piece of paper and turned to Lily. "You don't think I meddle in people's lives, do you Lils?" she asked in a panicked voice.

"Of course not," Lily assured her. "You're just... interested in people."

"Right," Alice sighed. "Wait until I find out who did this!"

"It must be a Gryffindor," Lily shrugged. "I mean, no one else would be able to get into our common room."

Alice unfolded the piece of paper and looked at it again. She scrunched up her nose, turning the paper this way and that, but the handwriting gave no clue as to who could be behind it.

"We'd better go, or we'll be late for Charms," Lily said, gathering up her bag and finishing the last piece of toast. Alice followed her, still puzzling over the paper.

When they reached the Charms classroom, most of the class was already there, including James, Sirius, Remus and Peter. Alice and Lily walked straight past them, but then Alice heard Sirius call, "You alright, Miss Matchmaker!"

Alice felt her blood boil. Slowly she turned around to face them. James was looking at her nervously. Sirius was smirking.

Alice clenched her fists. She walked up to their table and flung the piece of paper at Sirius. It bounced off his chest and fell onto the table, uncurling as it went to land face up in front of him. Sirius burst out laughing as he reread it.

"Did you write that crap?" Alice asked fiercely.

"Alice, it was just a joke," James gabbled. "We just -"

"You were in on this too?" Alice turned her furious gaze on her cousin. James looked shamefaced.

"It was Sirius' idea... he wrote it. I didn't have anything to do with it, I swear!"

"But you knew about it," Alice said icily.

James didn't answer. He snatched the piece of paper and read through it, then glared at Sirius. "Padfoot, you called my cousin a meddler?"

Sirius held up his hands. "Hey, I didn't see you objecting when I put it up this morning!"

"Well, I hadn't read it then," James scowled, ripping up the paper. "Alice, I didn't know he was going to write that or I would have stopped him!"

Alice exhaled gustily. "Whatever, James." She turned back to Sirius angrily. "I can't believe you would write that stuff about me when you hardly even know me!"

"It was just meant to be a practical joke!" Sirius protested.

"Well, it was a pathetic one," Alice snapped. "I thought you'd have grown out of such childish pranks by now. You'd better not do anything like that again, Sirius Black, or I'll hex you from here to next week!"

Alice turned on her heel and stomped to the front of the classroom, not caring that people were staring at her. Alice sat down next to Lily and slid as far down her seat as she could, glaring at her audience. "What?" she snapped, and everyone immediately turned back to their desks.

"Alice, are you OK?" Lily asked tentatively.

Alice sighed, putting her books on the table. "Yeah. It's not really the prank that bothered me, it's just him. I don't know who he thinks he is. He's so infuriating!"

"Yeah, he is annoying," Lily agreed. "And immature."

"Now I know how you feel about James," Alice groaned. Lily laughed and was about to comment when Professor Flitwick entered the classroom. The two girls immediately turned their attention to the lesson.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After dinner that evening, Alice and Lily left the Great Hall groaning. Every single teacher that day had piled homework on them.

"They're really coming down on us this year, aren't they?" Lily grimaced.

Alice hitched her schoolbag higher on her shoulder and groaned in reply. "NEWTs are coming up, so I suppose they're working us extra hard to prepare."

"I've never liked homework, but this is just torture," Lily agreed.

"Do you want to go to the library?" Alice asked, glancing around. "I've really got to get started."

"Me too," Lily said. "I've just got to go to Gryffindor Tower to get my stuff. I'll meet you there, OK?"

Alice nodded and made her way to the library, while Lily took off in the opposite direction. Alice sat down and unloaded her books. She had only been working on her Charms essay for five minutes when she heard footsteps approaching.

"Um, Alice Tyler?"

"No," Alice said in exasperation without looking up. "Whatever you read about me being a matchmaker is not true. It was someone's idea of a practical joke, so you can just stop right there before you say anything else."

Alice dipped her quill in her ink and began writing again. People had been coming up to her all day, asking if she could help them with their romance problems, and Alice was just about ready to scream.

After a few moments, she was still aware of the person's presence, whoever it was, and eventually put down her quill and looked up with a sigh.

"What?" Alice asked. It was Holly Gordon, from Lily's dormitory.

Holly bit her lip, twisting her hands together. Alice regarded her curiously. She was a petite blonde girl with the biggest, bluest eyes Alice had ever seen. Alice didn't really know her at all - she was very quiet and barely spoke at all.

"I - I know that Sirius put that notice up as a joke," Holly said haltingly, "but I was kind of hoping you could help me anyway."

"Sorry," Alice said, folding her arms. "No can do. I don't perform those services."

Holly stood there, rocking backwards and forwards on her toes. "But I don't know what else to do," she begged, her voice barely audible over the squeaking of her shoes.

Alice sighed. Part of her wanted to send Holly away. She really didn't have time for anyone else's problems, and she didn't want to give Sirius the satisfaction of going along with his stupid prank. But another part of her, a bigger part, felt sorry for Holly. She looked so small, standing there playing with her hair self-consciously. And Alice had to admit, she was curious as to what was the matter with her.

Alice unfolded her arms and leaned back in her chair. "Fine. Go ahead, I'm all ears."

"Well... there's this boy I like," Holly said, speaking slowly at first but then gabbling the end of her sentence so the words all jumbled up into a big mess. Alice struggled to understand her. "But he doesn't even know I exist."

Holly blushed, her pale cheeks turning beetroot-red. Alice raised an eyebrow quizzically. "So why don't you just go up and talk to him?"

"That's just it," Holly said. "When I'm around a boy I like, I just get - all tongue-tied and I can't even speak a coherent sentence. It's just that you're really outgoing and - well - I thought maybe you could talk to him first."

Alice considered it. "I'm not going to ask him out for you, if that's what you mean," she said finally. "It's up to you to do the asking. But I can get you talking to him, if that's what you want. What's his name?"

Holly glanced around as if to check no one was listening, before leaning in and whispering, "Remus Lupin."

"Remus?" Alice repeated loudly.

"Ssshhh!" Holly said frantically, jerking her head around to see if anyone was behind them.

"Sorry," Alice said sheepishly.

"That's another reason I wanted to ask you as well," Holly added. "I mean, it'll be easier for you to talk to him because you're James' cousin."

Alice thought about it for a while. Out of all of James' friends, Remus was the one she liked best. She frankly couldn't stand Sirius, and Peter was... Alice didn't really know what Peter was. He worshipped James and Sirius as if they were gods or something, but he never really measured up to them. There was something creepy about him that Alice couldn't quite put her finger on.

Remus was quieter than James and Sirius, but he seemed much nicer. Alice had only spoken to him about twice, but he seemed very friendly, polite and a proper gentleman. Unlike some, Alice thought, a scowl crossing her face as she thought of Sirius and his stupid practical joke.

Holly saw the scowl and misinterpreted it. "Oh... if you don't want to, that's OK," she said hastily. "I'll just..." She turned to leave.

"No, wait," Alice called, making a split-second decision. She stood up as Holly turned back round, a look of hope on her face.

Alice walked over to Holly. "I'll help you," she said, extending a hand.

Holly took it, her face breaking into a smile. " Do you really mean it? Thanks so much, Alice."

"Don't thank me yet," Alice warned. "It's going to take some time, and I can't guarantee anything."

"I understand," Holly agreed, but the look on her face show that she was confident that Alice could work miracles. She threw her arms around her. "I can't tell you how much this means to me!"

Alice, slightly puzzled and taken aback by the force of Holly's hug, patted the girl's back awkwardly. Holly seemed to be pinning all her hopes onto Alice.

So no pressure then, Alice thought glumly as Holly released her. Still beaming, Holly waved at Alice and walked away. What have I gotten myself into?

Lily arrived just then, an amused look on her face. "What did you just say to Holly Gordon? I swear she was walking on air when I passed her just now."

Alice rolled her eyes. "What can I say? I'm Miss Matchmaker."

Lily's eyes were sparkling. She dumped her bag on the table and sat down next to Alice. "Really? Who does she like?"

"Are we supposed to be working, or are we supposed to be gossiping?" Alice cocked an eyebrow, trying to sound disapproving and failing.

Lily grinned. "Do I even need to answer that?"

Alice sighed. She really wanted to finish her essay, but Lily was staring at her pleadingly, her eyes wide. "Alright, fine!" Alice laughed. "It's Remus Lupin."

"Remus? Really?" Lily looked surprised. "Holly's never mentioned him before. But then again, she is really shy. She's nice, though."

"Well, you know her better than I do," Alice shrugged. "Anyway, she asked me to help her get to know him better, so I agreed."

Lily was looking at her, smirking. "What?" Alice asked defensively.

"So you really are going along with this Miss Matchmaker thing?" Lily asked incredulously.

"No!" Alice replied snippily. "I just felt a bit sorry for her, that's all."

"And you couldn't resist organising someone's love life," Lily said cheekily.

"That's not it at all," Alice insisted, reaching for her essay again. "Can we please just get on with homework?"

"OK, OK," Lily grinned, emptying her bag onto the desk. Alice was silent for a minute while she scribbled, but she could feel Lily's eyes boring into the top of her head.

Alice looked up at Lily. "What?"

"Nothing," Lily said, innocently dipping her quill into her ink.

Alice regarded her suspiciously for a moment before returning back to her work. She could still feel Lily looking at her.

Alice threw down her quill and snapped her head up again. Lily quickly looked down and pretended to be reading a letter.

"OK, what is it?" Alice scowled.

"It's just funny, that's all." Lily grinned. "That Sirius was right, I mean."

"What?" Alice exploded. "Sirius was not right at all! I'm not doing this because I want to be a matchmaker or anything, I'm doing it to help Holly." She glared furiously at Lily. Lily's lower lip quivered. Suddenly she burst out laughing.

"Lily, stop it!" Alice insisted. "It's - not - funny -"

At that moment, Alice saw the funny side and dissolved into giggles. She and Lily clutched each other as they laughed.

Madam Pince appeared, flapping her hands at them. "You girls!" she snapped. "Quiet down! I don't know what to do with you, I really don't."

Alice quickly bit her lip to stop any more giggles from escaping. She didn't want to get into trouble.

Madam Pince hurried away, tutting. "I'm sorry," Lily said, wiping her eyes. "Your face just then..."

Alice wagged her finger in mock sternness. "If you weren't my best friend, Lily Evans..."

"Oh, but I am," Lily said smugly.

Alice grinned sheepishly. "We've both been losing our tempers a bit recently, haven't we?"

"A bit too much," Lily agreed.

"We'd better just stay away from James and Sirius," Alice said. "They seem to bring out the worst in me."

"Oh, James isn't so bad," Lily said in an offhand voice. Alice looked at her, eyebrows raised.

Lily turned slightly red. "Slughorn paired us together in Potions today to make an Emotional Overwhelm potion and we had a conversation."

Alice pretended to feel Lily's forehead. "Lily Evans had a civil conversation with James Potter? Are you feeling OK?"

"Ha ha," Lily said sarcastically, but grinned as she said it. She frowned. "Sometimes I really don't understand him, though. On the train here he was just how I expected him to be - cocky, arrogant, annoying - but it's as if he's suddenly had a personality transplant overnight."

"Well, people change," Alice shrugged. In her head she was thinking, well done, James! You finally did something right.

"Yeah, but people like James aren't supposed to change," Lily said. "After all these years of hating him, I had built up this horrible picture of him in my head. Now it's beginning to seem as if I was wrong after all." She put a hand to her mouth. "Oh my God, what's wrong with me? This is James, for crying out loud!"

Now it was Alice's turn to burst out laughing. Lily groaned. "Oh, don't! It's just so confusing, that's all!"

"Of course," Alice said, trying to keep a straight face.

Lily sighed and began putting her stuff back in her bag. "I don't know about you, but my concentration's shot," she said. "I'm calling it a night."

"Yeah, me too," Alice agreed, standing up. "I'll just have to work extra hard tomorrow, that's all."

The two girls left the library and bid each other goodnight. Alice headed back to Ravenclaw tower, feeling drained all of a sudden. When she reached the dormitory, she found Belinda hovering over the door, waiting for her.

"Well?" Belinda asked eagerly. "Did you see him?"

Alice brushed past her and sank down onto her bed. "No," she said in reply. "Look, I'm too busy for this, Belinda. I've got loads of homework, and all this other stuff going on..."

Belinda pouted. "A lot of help you are." She flounced over to her own bed.

"Look, why don't you just talk to him yourself?" Alice asked. "If it's meant to be, it's meant to be."

Belinda stared at her as if she had grown a second head. "Alice, you don't have the first idea about romance!" She went into the bathroom, banging the door shut behind her.

Don't I? Alice thought grimly. Well, I sure seem to be helping a lot of people with their love problems.

She turned round and ignored Belinda when she came back out the bathroom. Belinda blanked her and stalked over to her bed with a huff, pulling the curtains around so Alice couldn't see her. That suited Alice just fine.

Alice walked over to the window and looked out. There was a full moon that night, and the distant howl of a wolf reached her ears. It seemed to be coming from the Forbidden Forest. Alice shivered. She had never been in the Forest before and had no desire to at all.

Alice watched the shadowy silhouette of an owl swoop past the moon. For a fleeting moment, Alice wondered why she hadn't had a letter from home yet. Her parents usually wrote to her after her first day back, and then once a week after that. Don't be so paranoid, she scolded herself. They've probably just been busy or something. Alice's mum was a Healer at St. Mungo's hospital, and her dad was an Auror at the Ministry of Magic. These jobs meant they were working full time.

Alice sighed and went back over to her bed, curling her legs under her. I still can't believe it's only Thursday. She couldn't wait for the weekend. The way things were going, it seemed like every day was lasting a lifetime.