She Said What?

Chapter 11: I Have Another Accident

A/N: Unfortunately, this chapter is based on real events that occurred in the life of yours truly on Memorial Day weekend. I had been looking for a place to use it, since a story idea was the only thing the event was good for, and now I've found a spot. So if you end up giggling just a little bit, know that you have made me happy, because it took me a while to find the humor in the situation.

An appearance by James is necessary and so it is here. I promise.

October 11

Morning Check:

Fortunately enough, I did wake up at a reasonable hour today. That is, I did so after Livvy and Alice helpfully beat me with a hairbrush for twenty minutes. My bum was bright red, but I had time for breakfast, so I suppose it all evens out...

4:00 PM
Status: Mortified/annoyed

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

Eurgh, bloody hell. It's only ever me, isn't it? I am always the one plagued by the absolute worst luck in the universe. I think I was cursed by a mad bayou witch the day I was born, because I can think of no other explanation as to what causes all the weird things to happen to me.

Well, here we go with today's woes. These ones are particularly heinous, if I do say so myself, because not only did they cause public humiliation, they caused some severe mortification for one particular guy in my presence. But I'll get to that in a bit.

See, today, October eleventh, was one of those days that Hogwarts students wait around for every day in the fall. It's that rare, rare day where everything just seems to work – the sun comes out, the wind blows sweetly without being intrusive, the weekend comes around and gives us the opportunity to loll about on the grounds.

And when the first student made the announcement this morning that, indeed, this is The Day, every single person under eighteen in the building immediately sprinted to the front door. Me, Alice, and Livvy were among the droves, excitedly attempting to get a good spot by the Black Lake. And luckily, we were able to snag our favorite beech tree and lounge about in the shade, in utter bliss.

The only thing was, I had been feeling guilty all morning about the vast amount of homework I had thus far neglected to complete; so, in case my guilt finally pushed me to a point where I felt like being productive, I half-heartedly brought my bag outside with me. It sat beside me as I sat back against the trunk of the tree, appreciatively breathing in the fall-summer air.

"Merlin, it's gorgeous out, isn't it?" I said, shading my eyes from the relentless sun.

"Oh, Merlin, it is," said Livvy with a sigh. She was lying in the grass, her skinny little stomach going in a limited up-and-down motion with every breath, her long brown hair fanned out around her head. "I love this. It feels like summer."

"We need days like this every so often," said Alice with a yawn. "I could sleep out here."

Indeed, she probably could. She was sprawled on her stomach, her chin on her hands, her hair in a knot on her neck as she grinned up at me. Alice is famous for both sleeping and waking in two minutes flat no matter what day of the week it is – so long as she is on her stomach and she has a place to rest her cheek. I smiled at her.

"We needed this," I said. "The break. I mean, it's so busy these days in classes and everything – we have every right to laze around a bit. The weather is being very kind to us."

"We definitely ought to be nicer to the weather gods more often." Alice chuckled at her own lame remark and then chose to glare with distaste at my bag sitting next to me.