Meeting In the Sports-Room
MEETING IN THE SPORTS-ROOM
The following morning, I ate my breakfast in the dining hall. I intermittently stole glances over at the Hufflepuff table but the person I was seeking simply wasn’t there.
I went to my first law class and managed to sit thru it somehow. I skipped my second class in order to satisfy my curiosity about where Pia was hiding out during lunch-time.
I left the Preparatory School and walked across the school grounds to Hogwarts Proper. I walked inside and found the portrait of Regulas Black.
“Hello there, young man,” Regulus spoke as he greeted me. “I thought you'd never show up, but here you are again!”
“Hello,” I said to Regulus. “Have you any current news for me?" I asked.
Regulus sat in his portrait and smoothed dust from his suit jacket.
“The blonde haired boy comes by almost every day before tea-time. In fact he just went up about fifteen or twenty minutes ago,” Regulas said.
He further added, “The boy goes up… stays for several hours…then he comes back downstairs and leaves the building.”
I looked at the clock on the wall which shown 11:45. The clock had a little sign that read: Tea-Time – Lunch-Time.
‘I could do with a bit of tea myself,’ I thought.
When I glanced back at Regulus, he was sipping tea – along with all the other human portraits.
“I’m going upstairs to the second floor,” I told Regulas, “I'm going to find out what the mystery is with Pius and the whole lavatory thing.”
I began to step away from Regulus’ portrait but I stopped.
I turned back to the portrait and asked Regulus, “Do you have any advise?”
Regulus shot me a curious look and said, “I’d follow the song of singing birds.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked in confusion.
Regulus gave me a wink – then he stepped outside his portrait and was gone.
o0o
I went upstairs to the second floor and looked around the corner. I only saw a couple of students passing thru. Most teachers and students were at their tea-time, so the floor was pretty much vacant.
One side of the hallway had windows while the other side had a few doors. Here and there I saw the leaflets warning about Moaning Myrtle.
As I approached the girls lavatory I caught the sound of birdsong.
Curious, I walked into the lavatory. I thought it would be fairly dark, however it was somewhat well lit with a golden light.
The lavatory had sinks in the middle of the floor wrapping around themselves creating a circle.
I also saw some empty stalls. But, the lavatory didn’t smell like a usual lavatory with the awful smells. It smelled rather on the fresh side. Maybe because nobody had used it in here for ages.
I glanced over to the other side where there was a row of mirrors with a row of soft-padded seats in front of them. I noticed two figures sitting there on two of the seats.
Above… I saw several pink sparrows flying over them as the birds sang their love songs.
I took a step closer and peered around a stall.
It was Pius! Pius and some damn girl! I studied the girl quickly... she had mousy brown hair which was braided in a single braid down her back. She was a bit pale, nothing too special to look at. I had never noticed her around the school, but maybe it was because she was a member of Ravenclaw.
But despite all this, I only had eyes for Pius. Wonderful, spectacular Pius. Mesmerizing would be too insignificant a word to describe him. I had missed him for so long.
Pius and the girl were whispering, holding hands and speaking very softly with each other. The girl’s eyes became watery and he kissed her softly on the lips. Small pink sparrows flew above and sang their love-songs.
I was enraged! Not only had Pius evaded me… he was already seeing somebody else.
I emerged from behind the stalls… I was ready to confront them.
The girl saw me first, she let out a little squeak of surprise and motioned with her head over to me.
Pius looked as if he had seen a ghost.
“So,” I began, “I’ve been a fool wasting my time looking for you. I should have listened to everybody and realized you weren’t worth the effort… you’re a nobody."
I said this to hurt Pius… since I had been so badly hurt to find him in these circumstances.
The girl’s face was pink from either embarrassment or rage… maybe both.
She said, “Pie is worth ten million of you. You seem pretty much the pompous idiot to me.”
I was stricken with more anger. What gave her the right to speak to me this way?
Pius gave a stern look to the girl and said, “Beth, don’t say such things. Stop treating him this way.”
The girl let out a little sigh and said to me, “Well…. Pie has said only good things to me about you… so don't be such a blatherskite."
Pius held on to the girl’s hand and said, “It’s okay Beth. Don’t make trouble.”
The birds flying above had changed from pink to blue. Pius looked at them and sternly said, “Go away!” with a fierce voice. The birds suddenly disappeared.
Pius put a hand to his forehead and took a deep breath. When he looked up at me his eyes were watery. He had pinkish circles around his eyes as if he’ been staying up and weeping.
“So you found me didn’t you?” Pius said. “I knew you were close to catching on.”
The girl suddenly became flirtatious and said, “Pie has spoken so much about you, Albus. Won’t you come over and sit down?"
She motioned to the empty chair beside her, however when I walked over I sat in the opposite chair beside Pius’. I wanted to hold him… tell him never to leave me again.
But instead I said, “Who in the hell is this girl… and why does she keep referring to you as "Pie?"
Pius looked over at me with fire in his eyes, “Her name is Beth… and she's my best friend if you have to know.”
“And,” I cut in, “You left me for her? Really?”
Then Pius became very angry with me and said, “I haven’t left anyone for anybody."
Beth just laughed and said, “Pie, he doesn’t know who you are…. he doesn’t remember you."
I looked beside myself where Pius sat. He was staring wide-eyed at Beth.
‘Who is this Beth?’ I thought to myself. ‘Why don't I know her? Why didn’t I recall a past with Pius?’
I wanted answers to these questions!
Beth looked over at me and said, “You’ve obviously had a memory charm applied to you – now you can’t remember certain episodes of your own life.”
I told them, “I can’t have had a memory charm cast upon me. Madam Pomfrey said I was under no type of spell or hex.”
Beth only laughed harder and said, “Not if the memory charm is old… which it is. I also think the charm is beginning to fade, so Madam Pomfrey didn’t detect it.”
I looked at Beth and said, “I know you’re familiar, but I can't remember exactly who you are.”
Beth looked at Pius and smiled.
“Should we show him?" she asked Pius playfully.
Pius sighed and said tiredly, “Why not? Go ahead… show him."
I watched as Beth stood up and walked away. As she walked across the room, she became more and more translucent. I could see through her.
“Great horned toads!” I said, “She’s a ghost!”
I glanced over at Pius. He was nodding and said softly, “Yes. Yes she is.”
I finally recognized her. “She's Moaning Myrtle!,” I managed to say.
Moaning Myrtle was furious. She screamed like a banshee and dived into a toiled then rose again from another toilet.
Pius raised his voice and said, “Stop acting this way Beth. You know that I can’t stand seeing you act like this.”
Myrtle stopped raising havoc and started walking closer to Pius. As she neared him she became less and less translucent. She was full solid when she walked over and sat down in the seat beside him.
“What in the name of Slytherin is going on here?” I demanded.
“I’ll try to explain things to him," Pius said reluctantly to Myrtle.
Pius turned to me and said, “For one thing Myrtle never went by that name before she entered Hogwarts. Her family called her ‘Beth,’ which is a form of her middle name, ‘Elizabeth.’ ”
“Then why was she called Myrtle?” I asked.
Myrtle bowed her head down despondently, as if she were embarrassed or ashamed.
“They called her Myrtle to be cruel. Her housemates and classmates treated Beth atrociously. They rejected her and most of the teaching staff ignored it,” Pius stated.
Myrtle... I mean ‘Beth’ began to cry softly in her hands.
Pius placed his arm around her… and with his free arm he gently held her hand.
“It’s alright now, Beth,” Pius said gently, “Nobody can hurt you any more. Who cares what any of those braggarts say. They don't know anything.”
This seemed to revive Beth. She held Pius’ hand tightly and said, “I know. I’m a fool to react like I did... I'm sorry, Pie."
Pius just smiled at her.
I wanted to touch Pius so badly… but he was so busy comforting Beth that I didn’t know how to approach the subject.
So, I said to Pius, “Well… keep explaining. Why does Beth call you ‘Pie’? Why do you and Beth act like old friends? You’ve never been to Hogwarts until this year. I don’t understand.”
Pius turned to me and reached out with his hand and gently touched my knee for a second. I was reeling in happiness by his touch.
“This is not the first time I’ve attended Hogwarts. We were both first-years together here. You’re just not remembering,” Pius told me.
Pius turned to Beth and said, “I’m going to leave for now, Beth. Albus and I need to talk and I owe him several explanations.”
Beth nodded and walked away. She became transparent and floated thru the far wall and disappeared.
“Would you want to go for a walk with me, Albus?” Pius asked.
I stood up and said, “I’d really like to go for a walk with you.”