19 Years (HP - Drarry)

Chapter 21: The Fearsome (Fabulous) Five

Sunday, October 8, 2017

"Stop moving!" Al commanded, scribbling furiously at his paper. "Merlin, Scorp, I thought I was the one who couldn't sit still.

"I had an itch," Scorpius said petulantly. "Anyway, you've got to be nearly done with that - I've been sitting here for hours."

Al squinted along his pencil, then scribbled some more. "Can't have been," he said distractedly, then "aha! It's the ears."

"It's only been fifteen minutes, Scorp," Sasha said, flicking idly through one of his art books. She was lying on her stomach on their spare bed, kicking her feet in the air.

"Yes, well, it was supposed to be a five minute sketch. Remember? Anyway, I don't see why I'm stuck posing again. Wasn't it supposed to be your turn? And what in Merlin's name are you doing, Ivan?"

Ivan turned his head, fixing one startlingly blue eye on Scorpius. He was sprawled on his back, hanging precariously off the bed beside Sasha, one eye screwed shut. It was giving Scorpius a headache just watching him, and he kept wanting to turn his head upside down in sympathy. Ivan blinked owlishly at him with the open eye. "Getting a new perspective."

Sometimes he reminded Scorpius scarily of Luna. She was a wonderful source of new and fantastic magical creatures, to be sure, and a veritable fount of knowledge - some of which might even be true - but she was alarmingly unpredictable. Scorpius always felt a bit wrong-footed around her. She said it was probably wrackspurts. He thought it was just a healthy respect for order. There was something comforting in knowing the ground was solid beneath your feet. Ivan seemed like the kind of person who wouldn't mind if it wasn't.

The beaded curtains rattled, suddenly, and a small, bright-eyed whirlwind breezed into their room. "Oh, good. You're all here. We need to talk."

For a moment there was silence as four pairs of eyes swiveled to fix on the newcomer. Ivan tried to sit up and turn his head at the same time, and ended up in a heap on the floor.

"Hang on!" he squawked, once Sasha had hauled him up, "You're not a 'puff! How'd you get in?"

"Yeah!" said Sasha, rising smoothly to her feet and planting her hands solidly on her hips. "The entrances are spelled. Only true Hufflepuffs can get through."

The newcomer twirled one of her pigtails and widened her eyes innocently. "Who says I'm not a true 'puff?"

Al tucked his pencil behind his ear, studying her. "Your tie, for one."

They all looked at the decidedly green-and-silver tie slung haphazardly around her neck.

She shrugged. "Maybe I stole it."

Scorpius snorted. 'Maybe you did... but I've a feeling that would make you less of a true 'puff."

The girl pursed her lips. "Hmm. Point. Maybe I had an assignation."

Ivan frowned. "An assig-what?"

She rolled her eyes. "My, you 'puffs are innocent. A... date, then."

Al raised his eyebrows. "Aren't you a bit young for that?"

Scorpius felt a confusing flare of jealousy, and tamped it down. He'd have to think about where it was coming from... but later. The girl was speaking again.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

Sasha grimaced. "You sure don't like to give out information, do you?"

"Reckon she is a snake, then," Ivan said.

Scorpius frowned at her. "But then how'd you get in?"

She sighed. "I am a true 'puff. Honest. The Sorting Hat wanted to sort me here, but I convinced it I'd do more good in Slytherin." She smirked.

"...I don't know whether that makes you more 'puff or snake, to be honest," Al said faintly, "but I think I'm impressed."

She grinned fiercely. "Got in here, didn't I?"

Ivan looked confused.

"A nice bit of circular logic, that," Sasha said scathingly.

"Yeah," Al added. "Bold, too. Maybe you should have been a Gryffindor."

The girl grimaced. "Ick; no thanks. I'll take 'puffs or snakes any day."

"Not Ravenclaw, then?" Scorpius asked, intrigued despite himself.

"Nah," she flopped comfortably down across his bed, still snugged up against Al's. "I'll let you dorks do the studying. I'm here for the matchmaking."

Al coughed. "Who said anything about matchmaking?"

She shrugged, snagging a pillow and propping herself up with it. "It's what I do. Of course we'll be matchmaking."

They all stared, and she sighed. "Honestly. My work's hit a snag - I need your help."

Scorpius found his voice first. "And... you expect us to help, why?"

She inspected her nails. "Well. They're your dads, aren't they?" She looked up then, biting her lip, the first sign of anxiety she'd displayed. "Unless, of course, I've misinterpreted things and you actually don't want to get them together?"

Al held up his hands. "Right. OK. Hang on. Just... Why have you been trying to get our dads together, exactly?"

She grinned, bouncing back from her momentary hesitation. "Duh. It's what I do. And they've got the most sexual tension in this pile of rocks. The air practically sizzles between them - can't you feel it?"

They all looked up, vaguely wondering what the castle would do in response to being called a "pile of rocks." When nothing interesting happened, they turned back to the girl.

"Confident, aren't you?" Scorpius wasn't sure he liked the hint of admiration in Al's voice.

"Please. I know what I'm doing."

"So..." Al said slowly, chewing his lip, "how do you figure you can do more good in Slytherin?"

Her grin turned sly. "It's the best place to learn how to channel my abilities. I mean, I'm already good at figuring out what people want, who they are, who they're meant to be with, that sort of thing. What I need is to learn how to help people see it without realizing that I'm leading them."

Scorpius sidled further away from her. "You're devious."

"Yes."

"I'm not sure how I feel about that."

"I think it's swell," Al said cheerfully. "And possibly just what we need."

Scorpius sighed, then held out his hand. "All right. Fine. Welcome to the club."

She bounced up, pigtails swinging, and shook each of their hands in turn. "Fabulous. I'm Tilly. Tilly Leatherwood. So... Does our little club have a name?"

"Er, no?" Ivan said.

"Do we need one?" Scorpius asked, already knowing the answer.

Tilly rolled her eyes. "Of course we do. Let's see..." She flapped her hand at Al and Scorpius. "Well, you two are obviously the Dastardly Duo - "

"Obviously," Sasha mimicked.

Tilly ignored her. "- And we can be the Terrible Trio."

Ivan grinned. "I like that."

"So that makes us, what, the Fabulous Five?" Al asked.

"Or Fearsome," Ivan offered.

Sasha groaned.

Scorpius sighed.

And so the Terrible Trio and Dastardly Duo became the Fearsome (Fabulous) Five.