And There Were Always Two... - oc x r. lupin & oc x s. black

- 20 -

Mavis marched up to Slughorn's desk the next potion class with a determined look on her face.

"Professor," she said, making him look up from his parchment. "I would like to confess that my sister and I have switched places on you. You mistook us the first time we met this year and we did not correct you. I thought it would be funny, and convinced Ashley to play along, but it has gone on for far too long. With your permission, I would like to switch to our assigned seats and I will accept any detention you have to give for the both of us."

Slughorn looked shocked.

"I've never been in quite this position before," he confessed. "Switch seats, I guess. And umm... meet me for detention tonight, at 5 pm."

Mavis nodded and walked to Remus's seat. Ashley, who had heard the entire interaction, slid out of her seat and gazed longingly at Remus as she walked across the classroom.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Remus grumbled.

"As I said, I had gone on for too long," she answered coldly.

"Yeah, right," he snorted and opened up his textbook.

Mavis looked over at Sirius, who was staring at her. She looked away. She doubted he remembered his escapade from last night, not to mention knew that Mavis had seen, but that made it only hurt more. He didn't owe her anything, and there wasn't really anything to betray. It still hurt, though. Clearing her mind of the bastard, she worked on her potion with the much more responsible Remus Lupin.

Slughorn wandered over halfway through the lesson. He peeked into the cauldron and nodded.

"Very good, very good," he muttered, taking the spoon and stirring it himself. "If I haven't before, I would like to invite you to a little club I have," Mavis looked up, intrigued, "for excelling and promising students like yourselves. I have a little Christmas get-together in my office, a party. There will be graduate club members as well, I hope I'll see you two there. Await my invitation by owl."

"Thank you, Professor," Remus said.

"Yes, thank you."

Mavis could see in her peripheral vision that Remus glanced at her, but she ignored it. She let the acidic smell of the potion wear her stomach raw until she wanted to puke. It wasn't like she drank a lot last night, but her head was pounding and she wanted to cry.

Once they were done, Mavis stormed out of the classroom and ran to the astronomy tower. With her feet hanging off the edge and her arms resting on the railing, Mavis just sat there. She puffed smoke from the pack of emergency cigarettes she always kept in her pocket.

Pushing the button to start her walkman, she let out a dark laugh. The cassette rolled and the one sad ballad started playing from the hard rock album. The melody swam around her head, trapped between her flimsy headphones. It filled her up and threatened to pour out her eyes. The lyrics seemed to call to her, a rough voice against a cooing electric guitar.

On the shore of the Black Lake, the dark water lapped. In the distance, against the silhouettes of mountains on the far end, she swore she saw one of the Giant Squid's tentacles reach out into the sky like the tongue of a snake.

Her headphone was pulled from her ear and she jumped. James had somehow sat down next to her. He leaned in and tried to listen to her song, but she quickly paused in on her walkman. Pulling her headphones onto her neck and pulling out her cigarette she looked at him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you don't fling yourself off the Astronomy tower, of course," he answered way too cheerfully.

"Fuck you, Jay."

For a second she didn't understand why he broke into a smile, chuckling to himself. Her childhood nickname for him just kind of slipped out.

"Oh shut up," she said, slapping him. "It's not that deep."

"I guess it's not. We're just friends again, I kinda forgot what it was like."

Mavis sighed, she kind of forgot what it was like, too.

"Still moping about Sirius?"

"Yup, I'm just a little pathetic that way."

She snorted. She was skipping Transfigurations because a boy she talked to a couple times had kissed another girl.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" Mavis questioned, taking another inhale of her cigarette.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" James countered, but she threw him a glare. "Nah... skiving off seems like fun right now. You know those cigarettes will kill you?"

He was right. Mavis sighed and put it out against the stone floor.

"Anyway, I came because I had one of my brilliant ideas."

"Oh? Didn't know you had those."

"They happened from time to time. What if we went to the Slug Club party together? I know you got invited, Remus told me you both did. It'd make Sirius jealous out of his mind and Lily should get a taste that she hasn't got all the power."

Mavis shrugged. "Sirius wouldn't care."

"Suuure," James drew out the word in disbelief. "Then do it for your old pal, huh?"

"Fine."

"Wheeee!" he squealed, jumping up. "James Fleamont Potter has got himself a date!"

Mavis rolled her eyes and got up to her feet as well.