✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
Toby had been glaring at Genevieve ever since she sat down across from him in the library. Rationing words seemed to be a new hobby of his along with staring icily into people's souls. Despite the lengthy amount of time he had been sat across from Genevieve, he had only said two words to her in that time. "Hi" and "Sure" (that was when she asked if she could sit with him).
Finally having enough of it, Genevieve closed her book and folded her arms in front of her. "Toby," she started. "Did I forget your birthday? Unintentionally insult your mother? Step on your foot?"
"No," Toby responded monotonously.
"Three words," Genevieve whisper-cheered. To her disappointment, Toby didn't look up at her. He showed no sign of listening to her. Her eyebrows furrowed. "Are you mad at me?"
Toby's quill paused it's writing midway through a word before he placed it back in its ink pot. He looked at her with narrowed eyes. "You had fun at Hogsmeade, didn't you?" he said. He knew she did, yet his voice encouraged her to answer.
Unsurely, Genevieve nodded. "Tons. Did you know gingerbread flavoured chocolate is a thing? When I saw it in Honeydukes it made my day-"
"I thought the date you went on with Jessie would have made your day," Toby interrupted with a scowl. "You know- the date you never told me about."
Realisation took over Genevieve's features. Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh Toby, I'm so sorry I forgot. I meant to tell you, I cross my heart," she apologised guiltily.
Toby waved a nonchalant hand and leaned back in his chair. "It's probably best you didn't tell me about it, anyway." He crossed his arms. "Because I would have told you not to go."
Genevieve should of been offended, but she wasn't. She felt like she should of been, yet she didn't feel insulted at all. Instead, she merely pursed her lips and tilted her head. "Why?" she asked.
"Because you like Remus and went on a date with another guy," Toby replied simply. A grin played at his lips as he quoted Bradley: "Denial isn't good for the soul, M'lady."
Genevieve rolled her eyes before focusing them on the her converse shoes. McGonagall had scolded her earlier for wearing them as they weren't 'uniform approved'. Then she brought up Genevieve's untucked shirt and rolled up skirt and didn't stop talking until Sirius ended up distracting her altogether. He was the next to be scolded.
"I'm not in denial," she laughed shakily. "I like Jessie."
He raised an eyebrow. "But you like Remus too, don't you?" When Genevieve tried to defended herself but couldn't, he smiled in satisfaction. "Why don't you just tell him you like him?"
"It's not that easy, Toby. Remus and I dating would-"
"Wait, wait, wait!" Toby cut in and held up a finger. "Let me guess." He glanced at her with an exaggerated pout. "It would mess everything up."
"Yes and-"
"-And you're better off as friends because it would definitely mess up the dynamic of your friendship," he continued to repeat the words she had said many times.
Genevieve nodded. "Exactly."
A dreamy smile tugged at Toby's lips. He sighed and looked up at ceiling thoughtfully. "But wow, you love those freckles."
Genevieve glared before letting out a long, tired breath. "You're scarily good at this," she muttered. "But maybe... maybe I can get over Remus through dating Jessie."
"You mean by using Jessie," Toby corrected. At the pained expression on Genevieve's face, he shook his head and sighed. "C'mon, Gen, be sensible about this. You're being unfair to Jessie."
"I know it's unfair," she exasperated. "But I'm sure I could fall in love with Jessie if I tried to." She suddenly felt nauseous. She wasn't sure if she was disgusted in what she had just said or herself. "And hey! In two days we'll be on the way back home. Maybe over the summer I'll end up falling in love with him." That finalised the internal sickness.
"Genevieve..." Toby started, but his words were swept away with his incredulity. He was looking at her with something she hated - pity.
"What's so wrong with that?" Genevieve inquired, even though she knew everything morally wrong with that. "What's so wrong with not wanting to be alone—"
"But you're not alone Gen, you're lonely. There's a difference."
Genevieve drew back. Reality was a harsh thing to be confronted with, especially when you're nearly 17 and already feel like the loneliest person in the world. Knowing that other people can see that too hurts more than acknowledging it.
Toby watched Genevieve start to fiddle with the same butterfly pendent necklace that always hung from her neck. She didn't look at him, but merely stared at the table that separated them. He knew his words had stung, and for that he couldn't deny that he felt awful, but he had always felt that it was harsh words that got the message across.
"You can't force yourself to love someone, Gen," Toby said. "I've tried. It doesn't work. Why do you think it took me so long to get with Bradley?" His lips twitched upwards. "Denial isn't good for the soul."
Genevieve smiled faintly. "Right." She glanced over at his work, longing for a change of subject. "What are you writing about?"
"Vulpes Mortem," Toby answered. If he knew she was changing the conversation, he didn't show any sign of it. "It's one of the deadliest poisons alive. The flower inside of it, Foxglove, is what makes it so poisonous."
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
"These are so nice," Peter groaned with a mouthful of blueberry muffin. He nodded appreciatively at Dottie, the house elf who had been more than willing to stuff him with treats. "Truly. I'm going to eat these until I'm sick. Even then I'll carry on eating."
"Oh, no!" Dottie cried, her thin hands flying to her face. "Mr Pettigrew mustn't make himself sick!"
Peter abruptly raised his hands and began to shake his head. "No, no, no! I didn't mean it literally, I'm sorry to make you panic," he reassured. "These are really good muffins, though."
"Dottie is pleased to hear that," the house elf smiled before scuttling away and joining the other house elves.
"Throw me one!" Genevieve called from the other side of the kitchen, her hands raised in preparation. Peter, who had shockingly precise aim when it claim to throwing things, swiftly tossed a baked treat over to her from where he was sat on top of the counter. Genevieve caught it easily. "Cheers!"
"We aren't supposed to be eating!" James huffed and pushed his slipping glasses further up his nose. "We are supposed to be finding the chicken."
Genevieve waved the muffin under James's nose. "You sure you don't wanna eat one, Bambi?" she bribed with one eyebrow raised.
Despite his attempts to stay strong, it was hard for James's eyes not to follow the muffin. Anything that smelt that heavenly shouldn't be ignored. After a moment, he shook his head and regained himself. "We must continue with the plan. Find the chicken!"
"Have you checked the ovens?" Peter suggested, but James was already searching elsewhere.
"Well you might not be having a muffin," Sirius said, "But they look simply delicious, so I will." He snatched Genevieve's out of her hand and quickly took a bite from it before she could snatch it back. He grinned in her face as he chewed.
Annoyance lingered in Genevieve's eyes. "Did your parents ever teach you manners?" she asked, sharply.
"Occasionally," Sirius hummed as he took another nonchalant bite. "But they mostly spent their time telling me how much of a disgrace I am."
A frustrated noise released itself from James's throat. "Where is this chicken?" he muttered to himself repeatedly.
"Check the ovens," Peter repeated while throwing another muffin at Genevieve.
The secret door to the kitchen opened, and in walked Remus. As he began to walk to James, he looked beyond agitated. "James," he started with a slight edge to his voice, "Did you have to send me a howler during the middle of my prefects meeting saying that 'you're giving birth and I must come to the kitchens ASAP'?"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "See, Prongs," he criticised, "I told you he would have come quicker if you had said that Genny was pregnant instead."
"5 months along and I still don't know the father," Genevieve chimed in sarcastically while taking a bite from her treat. Remus shared an amused glance with her, a small smile on his face.
"I thought Jessie would have been the father, given the news," Sirius taunted, earning an elbow in the stomach from her. "Sorry."
Remus didn't have time to ask what Sirius meant by that before James was talking again. "Ah, so you got the howler!" he rejoiced gleefully. "Excellent. Now we've gotten you out of that boring meeting you can help us."
"Help you with what, exactly?" Remus said, eyeing them all up wearily. His eyes lingered on the blueberry muffins beside Peter.
"Finding the roast chicken in this gigantic kitchen."
"Check the ovens!" Peter said loudly. "Please, Merlin, just check the ovens!"
Shoulders slumped with less tension, Remus looked at James as if he had finally reached insanity. "Why are we finding the roast chicken?" he asked slowly, preparing himself for the answer.
James huffed and rolled his eyes. "So we can pour Alihotsy Draught on it and send the great hall into hysterics obviously. It's a great end of year prank," he explained. "Keep up, Moony, you're getting slow."
"This is all news to me," Remus reminded.
"But I told you all the details of our plan in the Howler!"
Remus's eyes narrowed. "Prongs, you told me all the details of your alleged pregnancy, not the plan," he deadpanned.
"Well you know the plan now. Get looking!" James encouraged, setting out on his hunt once again. Sirius, Genevieve and Remus helped him.
"Have you checked the ovens?" Remus asked James absentmindedly.
If Peter could of used the half-eaten blueberry muffin in his hand to bludgeon Remus, then he would of.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
Eventually, they had found the chicken. It was found in the oven, much to Peter's pleasure.It was greased in butter, coated in all sorts of herbs, and then drugged with the devilish Alihotsy Draught. With even the tiniest drop of the substance, the consumer is instantly sent into unstoppable laughter. There was a warning sign on the bottle, but James had chosen to blissfully ignore it. That's what he usually did with warning signs.
The second to last day of the school year, after all exams and stress was put to rest, was spent with a large feast. What did all Hogwarts enjoy more than anything at the feasts? The chicken. The non-meat eaters weren't safe either. The carrots had been laced with the draught too. Remus thought that it would only be fair.
As Genevieve walked into the hall, giddy with excitement from both the end of school year and their awaited prank, her eyes landed on Jessie. Just before she took her spot further down the table, she lent over his shoulder and kissed him on the cheek. "Don't eat the chicken or carrots," she whispered in his ear.
A smirk pulled at Jessie's lips. "Are you and you friends starting a riot again?" he asked quietly.
Genevieve hummed. "You'll see," she said and began to walk to her place next to Remus. For some reason, the scarred boy couldn't help but stare curiously at her as she approached. "What's wrong? Have I got something on my face?" she asked.
"No, you look wonderful. You always look wonderful," he reassured quickly, but his brows were still furrowed. "Are you— Are you with Jessie?" he forced himself to say.
She never got to respond. The pristine sound of a spoon hitting a glass goblet cut through the air stopped her from doing so. Remus was left painstakingly in the empty as Dumbledore began his speech, his mind grappling at loose strings as he tried to tie together the answer. He tried to listen to the speech, but all the words that the headmaster spoke were jumbled and fuzzy.
Halfway through, Remus leant closer towards Genevieve. "Are you?" he asked again quietly, his eyes looking intently into hers as he waited for the answer.
"I am," Genevieve answered with a small smile. It might have been obvious that she forced that smile, but if she did then Remus showed no sign of noticing. He nodded curtly and looked away.
Now he knew what Sirius had meant earlier.
A moment later and divine smelling food was filling all four tables. Roast potatoes that were crisped to perfection, the biggest and plumpest Yorkshire puddings, green beans, gravy that oozed over people's plates, and a plethora of other food that made mouths water. The most popular food items were the large chickens that sat in the centre of each table and the endless bowls of carrots.
At the first sound of out of control laughter, Genevieve's face grew into a large smile. She wasn't the only smiling, as the rest of the boys were too. They only grew as the unrestrained laughter spread like wildfire through the Great Hall. Soon enough everyone was in hysterics, clutching their bellies and wiping away the amused tears from their eyes.
"Laughter galore," James admired proudly. "Our only main intention."
"Really? I thought it was to wreak havoc," Sirius said.
James nodded in agreement. "That too." With a grin, he raised his goblet. "Happy end of year, Marauders." As laughter ensued around them, the clinking of their goblets was barely audible, but the happy looks they exchanged were more than enough.
It was only when McGonagall began to rise from the teachers table, her face more stern than ever, when their smiles were replaced with expressions of panic.
✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*