Who Likes Who
Chapter 11: Who Likes Who
October 13, 1993
Liana stood knee-deep in the mud, a new bruise on her knee. Her mind was screaming at her to stop, to go back to Hogwarts, sleep in her own bed for a change, and get some proper food.
It had been around four days since they'd been wandering around the place, searching for Sirius Black nonstop. They'd been living on the same two pairs of clothes and very little food.
"Candice!" Liana called, taking a huge step forward. "Kylie! Any progress?"
Kylie came first, panting and taking a deep breath. Candice came from the opposite direction in a few minutes, a nasty scratch on her forehead.
"I found a snake," offered Kylie.
"I don't care."
"Oh."
"It's such a huge forest though," pointed out Candice. "How are we planning to find him in such an unmappable place?"
Liana glared at her. "Are you just giving up?"
Candice shook her head. "We need a plan, though. Right now we've just been wandering around, splitting up a little bit, and joining together to discuss our progress. Then we take a food, water, and rest break, and then we split up again. It's not exactly much of a plan."
Liana sighed. "You're right. We need a pl-"
She stopped as they heard a rustling sound behind them. Whirling around and yanking their wands out, Candice, Kylie, and Liana all scanned the area.
"Someone's there," whispered Kylie.
"Yeah," Liana muttered back. "Lumos." The light burst from her wand as she carefully crept forward to the place where the leaves had rustled. Nobody was there.
"Could it have been an animal? Like the acromantula?" Kylie wondered.
"Shut up," Liana said. "We don't speak of that incident."
"Huh," mumbled Candice. "Funny, eh? You think we're going mad?"
"No," said Liana firmly. "That's not funny. Not remotely funny. We're trying our hardest to keep our sanity in this place and making a crack about it is not funny."
"Yeah, sorry," mumbled Kylie. "Can we take a food break now, please?"
They found a patch of green grass and unzipped their backpacks.
"Let's all have bread?" suggested Kylie.
"Yuck." Candice made a face. "Do we have to?"
"Unless you'd rather starve," Liana grumbled.
"Bread with what… I got it, water!"
Liana rolled her eyes. "Please, Kylie, no. We'll take bread with… um… Hey, we brought cheese along with us. Cheese and bread. Just like a grilled cheese sandwich, right?"
Candice grimaced. "I don't know exactly how much like a grilled cheese sandwich this is."
Kylie smirked as she handed out the bread to everyone.
"This is stale," complained Candice.
"Well, we're witches!" Liana cried. "Just heat it up, for god's sake. What is it… Lumos?"
"That makes light," Kylie said quietly.
"Incendio?"
"That sprouts a fire," Candice said, looking horrified. "Can't we try Lumos?"
"It's not going to-" started Kylie, but Liana and Candice had already tried. Light shone through the bread. "I told you."
Liana rolled her eyes. "Stale bread it is then."
The three of them ate in silence.
"What happened to your knee?" Candice asked, looking at the new bruise on Liana's knee. Liana looked down, smacking it with her knuckle by accident, causing it to start stinging again.
"Tree branch," Liana made out through gritted teeth. She closed her eyes. "It hurts. A lot."
"Didn't you have another cut on the same spot?" Kylie asked, her eyes widening.
"Yeah," grumbled Liana. "You can see the outline of it, just look he-"
"No, no." Kylie shook her head. "Please."
Liana scowled. "Will you please help me fix the dang bruise? Or are you two useless?"
"I don't know a healing spell," Candice explained. "I'll have to wipe it off with like, a napkin or something. It's going to hurt."
"Of course," sighed Liana, closing her eyes again as Candice rubbed her knee with a napkin. "Ow. Ow. Ouch. Distract me then!"
"Yeah, sure," said Kylie. "Er… Er…"
"Did you know I'm from Germany?" Candice cut in hopefully.
"Seriously?" Liana opened one eye. "Is this true?"
Candice shrugged. "I mean, yeah."
"Were you… born there?" Liana wondered.
"Yeah, actually. We moved here when I was seven."
"Wow," mumbled Liana. "Moving countries. That must be difficult."
Candice nodded. "Otherwise, I'd be in a different school. Germany has one - it's on the border with Austria."
"Wow!" cried Kylie.
And no matter whether Liana had one bruise or twenty - her resolve was set. They were going to get through this together. Whether it meant gossiping or arguing over stale bread… They were going to do it.
She was confident about it.
Katie Bell was playing truth or dare with a bunch of her Gryffindor friends. Oh no - it wasn't just truth or dare. There was a serious amount of betting, luck, and magic involved. There were some silly dares, some serious truths, and of course, Katie got stuck with the silly dares.
"Katie…" Rosalie started, frowning. "Let's see… You need a good one."
"Do I?" Katie asked, smirking.
"Yeah," said Rosalie. "I dare you to take this bowl of soup and dump it on that 7th year boy over there."
Katie followed her gaze and saw a rather fat kid sitting there with red flaked hair and a grin on his face. "You bet," she said, picking up the bowl of soup - who knows where it came from? - and walking forward to the boy. She emptied it on his head, and he screamed, turning around.
"Who the heck are you?" he demanded.
"Katie Bell," Katie answered.
"What the heck was this for?" he asked, gesturing to his now soup covered hair.
Katie tried to hide the smile, but couldn't quite manage it. A laugh escaped from her lips as she answered, "It was a dare."
"A dare!" he griped. "Ruining my hairstyle is a dare?"
Katie burst out in laughter. "You bet it is," she said, before returning to her friends. "I did it."
Alicia scrunched up her face, her black hair swaying from side to side. "Ugh. And I have to give two Galleons."
Katie gave a twinkling laugh, amused. "You bet that I wouldn't do the dare?"
Alicia sighed. "Someone had to."
"Cough up," sang Rosalie, holding out her hand. Alicia slammed two Galleons into her hand. "Katie, your turn to dare somebody."
"I dare…"
"Excuse me?" It was a soft voice, and Katie turned around to see a second-year standing there.
"Hi," said Katie, recognizing the face. "You're Fred and George's sister, right?"
The girl nodded. "Yeah, I'm Ginny."
"I know you!" cried Alicia. "Hey, do you need something?"
The second-year eyed the group of boys and girls. "Can I play?"
Katie looked over at Lucas, the unofficial leader of the group. "Can she?"
He shrugged. "No rule against it - no harm. Come right in… Ginny."
Ginny squeezed in next to Alicia. Lucas quickly went over the rules, teaching her how to bet, how the winners were decided, and some examples of truths and dares, and the limits. Nothing this easy, or nothing that weird. Silly was okay.
"So…" Katie looked and saw Angelina smirking at her. "I dare you,"- she pointed at Angelina - "to go to that fifth-year boy over there and tell him you think he looks good, but you're a cucumber, and nobody would even want to look at you. And add that he looks better in red colored shirts."
Angelina raised an eyebrow. "I'm a… cucumber?"
Katie smirked. "You have to tell him that."
Angelina made a face before she stood up and made her way to the fifth-year.
"Place the bets," Rosalie announced.
Katie tossed in five Galleons. "She'll do it."
Rosalie shot her a look. "You're doing a direct bet… with this much money?"
Katie nodded. "She'll do it," she said again for emphasis.
Ginny bit her cheek. "Should I bet that she'll do it or not?"
Katie looked at the second-year. She had a lot to learn about this game. "You can abstain from the bet," she offered, "but you won't earn anything. You'll return with the same amount of money."
"Nah, I'll bet," Ginny said. "She'll mess up while doing it. Er… one galleon?"
Lucas took the money as they all turned to Angelina, who had gotten the attention of the 5th year.
"Hi! I think you look really good, I mean - really good, but I'm a cucumber." She pretended to look sad. "And nobody wants to even look at me.." She paused, then went on. "Oh, and you look better when wearing red clothes."
And she returned.
The group burst out in laughter and Katie got ten galleons, Ginny had to give two, and a few others grabbed and donated money.
Then Harry Potter came (why were so many people coming to them?), looking bewildered. "Why are you guys being so… loud?" he asked.
"We're not," a boy answered, grinning. "Just having fun."
"Right." Harry blinked. "Can you keep it down a little bit? Not me, but Hermione's getting a little annoyed."
Katie shrugged. "Sure, I guess."
"It's not your fault," Harry explained. "Fred and George are doing something, and she's getting annoyed."
Alicia laughed. "I get it."
Katie looked over at Ginny, who was looking frozen and terrified, like she'd just embarrassed herself in front of everybody. She frowned. Why was Ginny looking so shocked?
"Oh, hello, Ginny!" Harry said warmly.
Ginny blinked a few times before she quickly stood up and raced out of the place.
Katie turned to look at Harry. "Is something the matter between you two?"
Harry shrugged. "I dunno. Ron says she's shy around me because I saved her life last year..."
Katie nodded thoughtfully. "Oh."
But she wondered if there was more to that story than Harry was telling her.
Lily and James were talking about Liana.
Like always.
Lily was so distressed, she could barely think. A substitute had been covering her lessons for the past couple of days, but she knew she had to go back. She couldn't mope around forever.
"So I've asked a few people in Leeds and Manchester," said James. "They'll be on the lookout."
Lily nodded. "Okay."
James frowned. "Did Liana mention anything to you about leaving? Maybe something she wanted to do… something she wanted to find?"
Lily shook her head. "No."
"Good."
"But…"
James moaned. "There's a but?"
Lily laughed a little. "Tonks said Sia said-"
"Hold up. Who's Sia?"
"Liana's dormmate."
"Oh. Keep going."
"So Sia said that Liana was saying Sirius Black's name in her sleep."
Lily felt James stiffen, his eyes narrowed into slits, and she immediately backtracked, scooting away from him on the couch in case he got angry and went into a mood. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought that up."
James closed his eyes for a moment, and then opened them, smiling. "No, you're fine." He reached out his arm and pulled her back towards him on the couch, putting his arm around her. "I need all the information I can get. I need to stop getting so sensitive. Keep going."
"So I'm assuming that this has something to do with Sirius," Lily wrapped up.
James looked thoughtful. "Yeah, that could be. You think Sirius kidnapped her?"
Lily raised her eyebrows. "And Kylie and Candice? No, that seems a little too suspicious."
"Yeah, you're right." He sighed. "This is annoying. It's so difficult."
"You'll get it, though." Lily looked up at him. "We have Dumbledore, and Tonks, and Remus, and a bunch of people who can help us. We will find Liana."
James smiled like he was enjoying a private joke. "Wasn't I the one telling you this just a few days ago?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "Yeah, well, times have changed."
James laughed, kissing her hair. "Okay, let's keep going. Tonks is going to come meet us in a few minutes, right?"
"Yeah, and we're going to give her more information and start discussing conclusions," Lily said, looking up at James. "I hope we find her soon."
"Me too," he replied. "Tonks is a good Auror, though. I trust her."
"She does seem pretty nice," agreed Lily. "And smart, too. She seems to be getting along well with most people."
"That's good," said James. "An Auror needs that. If people like her, they'll easily give her information. If they didn't, they'd be more secretive and only tell her what they want."
Lily smirked. "Are you likeable?"
"I like to think I am," James laughed. Lily laughed with him, straightening up a little to plant her lips on his forehead. He moved his arms to wrap around her. "I am likeable. You're proving it."
Lily leaned back, raising her eyebrows. "Oh, really?"
"Yeah, really. Everyone likes me. You said you never would like me, but guess who's sitting next to me on the couch right now."
Lily laughed. "You became likeable, James."
"No, you just learned to appreciate me and my jokes," James countered.
"You became less of a thick-head," Lily said, tapping his forehead. "But you still are one."
James pouted. "Unfair."
"Then make it fair," Lily suggested sarcastically. He contemplated her for a moment, before he scooped her up in his arms and settled her on his lap.
"Tell me I'm not a thick-head."
"I can't do that," Lily said, grinning.
"Bad mistake…" James started rocking her back and forth, and she found that he was strong enough that she couldn't wiggle out of his grasp.
"Stop that!" Lily cried.
"Tell me…" James sang. "Tell me I'm not a thick-head."
"Okay, okay, fine," muttered Lily. "You're not a thick-head."
"Finally!" James grinned triumphantly.
"I hate you," Lily grumbled.
"No you don't." James winked, still looking smug.
"Yes I do," Lily muttered, trying to push away from his grasp.
Immediately, James dropped his arms (allowing Lily to jump off him) and a sad look covered his face. Ugh, he was so unfair when he did that. "Oh. I'm sorry."
Lily sighed and climbed back on the sofa. She placed another light kiss on his forehead. "I don't hate you," she said. "But you're still annoying."
James grinned. "I don't think I can do anything about that."
Lily's lips moved to his nose. "Your middle name is annoying."
"I think I've been told," James laughed. "By everyone. I'm sure Dumbledore told me once, too. Or not. McGonagall definitely told me. I think you told me that a gazillion times in Hogwarts."
"Just shut up," Lily murmured, putting a hand to his mouth. "I'm trying to do something here."
James pushed her back and looked down at her. "Am I going to let you?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "You'd better."
"I don't think I'm going to let you," James whispered, tucking a strand of her fluttering hair behind her ear, "because I'm going to do it instead."
Lily glared at him as his hand ran down her cheek to her chin, before going back up and making its way to her hair. "You are so insufferable."
James grinned, peppering kisses all over her hair. "I'm also so loveable."
Lily closed her eyes, letting the pleasant feeling soak in. "That you are."
James kissed her forehead. "You admitted it!"
"I'm married to you, of course I admit it," Lily grumbled as his hands moved from her hair and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Aren't we supposed to be talking about Liana?" James asked.
"That can wait until Tonks comes," Lily breathed as James's hand moved to her shoulders.
James laughed as he cradled her against him. Their eyes met, and Lily dissolved in his, those loving, hazel, warm brown eyes, a playful hint clouding the corners, she could stare at them all day and discover something new. She was so lucky that she had him as her husband… not just as a husband, but as a companion. A friend.
They slowly drew closer to each other, their eyes not moving from each others' when…
"Hey."
Lily jumped off James, whirling around, to see Tonks standing in the doorway, looking a little embarrassed.
"Sorry, am I disturbing something?" She looked apologetic (and maybe a little uncomfortable).
"No, you're perfectly fine," she assured Tonks, smiling warmly. Tonks was wearing an olive green jacket, a white blouse, and jeans. Her hair was shoulder-length and blue, and she was wearing a smile.
"Cool. Can I come in?"
"Of course," James said, standing up next to Lily as Tonks came into the room.
"So, we're here to discuss where Liana could be," Tonks said once they were all seated.
"Yeah, we are," said Lily, before frowning. "Oh shoot, where are my manners? Er… would you like some tea? Coffee?"
"No, I'm good," Tonks said.
"Don't bother," James muttered. "Lily will get you one, anyway."
Lily smacked James with a pillow. "I'll ring for orange juice and biscuits. Unless you'd like anything else."
Tonks smiled. "No, that's good. Thank you so much."
Lily quickly called for juice and biscuits. Once they arrived, the three of them finished their juice and the plate of biscuits was empty after a few minutes.
"Well then, shall we get to business?" Tonks asked.
"Sure," said Lily.
And they started working.
Harry was angry.
Well, more than that. This was more like it...
White hot fury was raging through him. His eyes were narrowed to slits, resembling Voldemort's. His hands were clenched into tight fists, his veins bursting and his skin stretching to the amount of pale they could ever go. He was shaking. Every inch of his body was shaking. His face was dark red, darker than Ron's ears got when he was embarrassed.
It was one thing that Sirius was after him. To kill him. Fine! He couldn't care less. Voldemort was after him. All his stupid minions were after him too. Fi-i-i-ne. He was used to it. He didn't care one small bit. Sirius could try his hardest. There were dementors. Guards. Dumbledore. When Dumbledore was around, he wasn't afraid of the biggest dragon anybody had seen.
But it was another thing that Sirius was the reason Liana was missing.
Had Liana gone to find Sirius? Who did she think she was - superwoman? She couldn't do it. She couldn't find a mass-murderer who'd escaped Azkaban… escaped the stinking law! Had Sirius tortured or blackmailed Liana somehow? Likely. Very likely. But why Kylie? Or Candice?
"IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!" he roared. He was alone, sitting in an abandoned corridor. If he'd hoped that nobody would hear him, he was mistaken. But he didn't care.
"Harry?" came a soft voice. He whipped around to see Ravenclaw's seeker, Cho Chang looking at him.
Harry blinked. "Er… Yeah?"
"Are you alright?" she asked.
Harry felt a pink blush threaten to rise on his cheek. "Yeah, I am. What makes you think I'm not?"
"I mean, I heard you yelling that something didn't make sense."
"Oh. That."
"Yeah, and I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I am," Harry lied quickly. "Thanks."
She smiled. "If you need help with homework or something, I can help…"
Harry examined her. She was honestly pretty. Her creamy black hair was let loose, reaching just above her waist, and she was wearing a red jacket and tights.
Then he frowned. What was he doing, examining her? He didn't like her or anything. Okay fine, she'd be a good friend, but like… that was it.
"Homework, yeah, okay, but like… Different houses, right? Unless the same curriculum… no wait, we're both third-years anyway, but I mean… It's not. No homework. I mean, we can still study together but like… I'm not angry because of the homework. No wait. I'm not angry at all. You know?"
Cho blinked. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Harry wanted to smack himself. Why was he babbling on and on like this in front of her? "I'm sorry. Yes. I am fine." He drew out the words slowly, and Cho didn't look convinced.
"Okay then," she said slowly. "I'll go."
"Sure," Harry mumbled. "Good work last match."
"Thank you!" Cho smiled, and then she was gone.
"Way to go, Harry," muttered Harry, smacking the back of his palm against his head. "What a way to woo a girl."