Disclaimer: still not owning them, still a pity. All the characters belong to JKRowling. Really. Not a Sue in my fic.
ON THE DELAY: I am very, very sorry for the time it has taken me to write this poor excuse of a chapter. And I'm even more sorry to say that I can't foresee when the next update will be. Those who have been here from the begining can tell you that it can take any amount of time, from three days to nearly a year...
So: why the delay? It's a long story, but if you want to know, you can keep reading. If you have read the other chapters before even atampting to read this one, you will remember how insecure I felt with the last one. It's very stupid of me, I know, but even if I had a lot of wonderful reviews for it, one single silly, stupid review was enough to send me on a writers block. Don't get me wrong, I do appreciate constructive criticism, but I don't think a one sentence review counts as it, even if it says they loved the first five chapters before saying the last one was plain boring. They used capital leters for 'boring' to. Ouch.
I wasn't on a writers block for a year (hell, no!) but, by the time I overcame it, HBP was here, and I started to write La Esfera de Sonora, which was, is and will be my main priority. On a brighter note, I can say that now that Sonora is more 'stable', I don't need to fully concentrate my efforts on it and can easily write other fics at the same time.
But, I must say, I will be working far from home (cries a bit) the entire summer, so, I don't know how much I will be able to write. It all depends on if it is true or not that the more work you have, the more you manage to do... In any case, whatever my writting speed, Consequences is not on hold, and I hope it won't be anymore.
The reviews: well, it's been so long that I don't dare pushing the 'reply' thing. I would if I could see your faces at receiving an answer to a review you don't remember what you said in, though :P. Anyway, even if I will not answer to each of you, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who sent me a kind word, encouraging me to continue. It helped. A lot. And... well, I know I probably shouldn't do this, because it is a clear favouritism, but... you know, sometimes authors grow a soft spot for some of their reviewers so, even if they are not the only ones, here it goes...
This chapter is dedicated to DarklilDraco, IceBlueRose and Moon-Wolf2, hoping that you're still around and that you will enjoy yet another wave of silliness.
Note on the previous chapter: it was pointed out that in last chapter, after Harry made the effort to put a glamour on himself so as to not being recognised, Dobby appeared yelling: "Harry Potter, sir!". Well, there is an explanation. You see, Dobby is a very clever house elf, so, when he saw Harry was wearing a glamour, he cast a privacy spell so that Sirius wouldn't hear what he was saying... Ok. It was a huge mistake of mine, and you would have laughed for a week if you had seen my face when it was pointed out to me. My sister did. Anyway... It didn't happen? (smiles sheepishly)
One little last thing... I had a beta, but I lost her mail, so this chapter isn't betaed either. I will try to find someone for next one...
On with the chapter!
Existential Doubts
Robbie Robins, fifth year, random Hufflepuff, couldn't believe his eyes. A dream had come true, and it was walking down the corridor.
Right: James Potter wasn't the Boy Who Lived. He hadn't saved the world from He Who Still Shouldn't Be Named, he didn't have his shy mysterious aura, nor, unfortunately, his sweet, amazing, beautiful, startling emerald green eyes. Just plain brown. Really, what a pity.
But still: James Potter was a War Hero, a quidditch legend, and a notorious prankster. He had been Head Boy, but also one of the Marauders. He was fun, but responsible. Self-confident, and with good reasons for it, but kind and good to everyone around him. And, he had the face, the messy 'just been shagged' hair and the body why anyone would want to do that of one sexy Harry Potter.
But most of all, James Potter was gay.
Now, as I was saying, Terry Terence, sixth year, random Hufflepuff, at first couldn't believe what his eyes were showing him. So he rubbed them, looked again, and, as the vision didn't change, decided he'd never, ever in his life would close his eyes again, fearing that, if he did, James Potter would turn straight and said life would be ruined.
Really, who would have thought it? He married Harry's mum, whatever her name was, so Barry had concluded that he had to be straight. Bi, in the best of the scenarios. But never, ever, forever, whatever (no, really: never) would he have thought of James Potter as flaming gay.
oOoOoOo
As he walked down the corridor, James Potter was thinking that 1997 wasn't that different from their own time. They had woken up, got dressed, and now they were walking down for breakfast with random Hufflepuffs ogling them. Just like every morning.
Okay, maybe not quite as every morning. Maybe there was a bit more ogling on the masculine part of the crowd than usual. But it could perfectly be because of the superb specimen (Doreen's words) that was walking beside him at this very moment. Back in 1977, Sirius had been a bit of a sexuality test: he walked past a guy, said guy was attracted to him and discovered he was gay. Or, he walked past a girl, she didn't feel anything, and concluded she was a lesbian.
Some midget stopped them.
"I just wanted to thank you" he told Sirius, blushing profusely.
Sirius came out of his musings, blinking at the midget (probably some random Hufflepuff) and stared at him.
"Yesterday, at dinner" explained the kid "I was watching you, and suddenly, I found my true self. So, thank you"
He got on his tiptoes, kissed Sirius's cheek, and went away running.
There, see? Nothing to worry about. The 'future crowd' was just adjusting to his best friend's presence.
Anyway. The day was pretty normal. A bit monochromatic, as it seemed the people from the future favoured their uniforms for going down for breakfast, but, otherwise, the day was pretty nor…
"What are you thinking of?" asked Sirius, rudely interrupting his musings.
James scowled at him, but answered anyway "It all seems pretty normal, don't you think?"
"Dunno… It's strange to see so many uniforms first thing in the morning…" said his best friend thoughtfully "…Don't you think, Wormtail?"
"Uh?" said the other, coming out from his own little world. Seeing as the other two were waiting for an answer, he opted for the Standard Mode "Yeah! Sure! What do you think, Prongs?"
"It's kind of freaking" said James, not noticing he was being ignored "I mean, usually, the only one wearing black for pleasure is Snivellus"
"Yeah" growled Sirius. He could have said it normally, but growling seemed a good thing to do when referring to Snape.
"Anyway." Sentenced James "It all looks pretty normal"
"Yeah." Approved his best friend "Besides the uniforms."
"Besides the uniforms" repeated James "Don't you think, Wormtail?"
"Uh? Yeah! Sure! What do you think, Prongs?"
"It all looks pretty normal" said James earnestly.
They walked in silence for a couple of minutes, until they reached the bathroom. Then, Peter and James loyally stood by the door while they waited for Sirius to fix his hair, which only took him thirteen minutes and twelve seconds.
"How am I?" he asked when he finally joined them at the corridor.
"Stunning"
"Yeah! Sure! What do you think, Prongs!"
"Stunning"
"Thank you, guys!" said Sirius smiling brightly, and a little star shined on his teeth. "You're the bestest of the best!"
"I know" said James confidently, adjusting the snitch on his belt. "Anyway… It all looks pretty normal…" he said with a wicked smile.
"So?" answered uninterestedly Sirius, checking his hair on a glass "Should I tie my hair?"
"Yeah! Sure! What do you think, Prongs?"
"Dunno… Maybe that thing you do with your wand… Anyway: it all looks pretty normal, soooo…" he said, readjusting the snitch on his belt.
"So?" repeated Sirius, as uninterestedly as the first time, placing himself in front of a glass and twisting his hair with his wand to tie it in an informal bun.
"Soooooo…" insisted James excitedly "We should play a prank on Snivellus!"
"Yeah! Sure! What do you… No! Wait!" said Peter alarmed, realising what he was agreeing to.
"The teachers don't need to know!" insisted James.
Peter opened his mouth to reply, but Sirius beat him to it. Placing a ribbon clad hand in his shorter friend shoulder, he said "Don't dignify this with an answer"
"Uh? Yeah! Sure! What do you think, Prongs?"
"I think you should tell me why you don't want to play a prank on Snivellus!" he said indignantly "Really, people! What's gotten over you!"
Sirius shook his head sadly, and turned back to the glass.
"It was being a such normal day…" said James, sounding disappointed.
The Tower Clock sounded eight times in the distance.
"Hey!" exclaimed Sirius, indignant "What happened to Fawkes? Why have they replaced him by a bell?"
"Dunno… It was being such a normal…"
"Come on, Prongs!" interrupted the animagus, a bit tired, while checking his reflection one last time "It's eight o'clock! Time for Morning Thickness is over!"
"Uh?" was James' smart answer. The poor thing looked rather stupid with his wide eyes magnified by his abnormally large glasses.
"Eight o'clock" reminded him Peter, abstractedly tapping his shoulder.
At this, James seemed to finally react. He frowned in deep concentration, trying to remember what he had said previously, and, like every day of his saddened by the disease life, his cheeks acquired a nice bright pinkish red colour while he asked: "Did I say that?"
"Which part of it?" asked Sirius, rolling his eyes.
"To put a prank on professor Snivellus" he whispered, flustered.
"Yeah, you did" answered the animagus nonchalantly, and then he added "Now, seriously: how do I look?"
James took a minute to think about it before giving his opinion.
"Well…" he finally said "The mirrored robe is pretty cool, in a disco-fashion kind of way, and it actually brings out your eyes…"
"That's what I thought" said his friend with satisfaction
"… But…"
"What?"
"Well… I know they're mirrors, not silver, right?" he said, trying not to offend Sirius.
"I know what you're going to say" he answered knowingly. "You think it has a Slytherin pride message on it, don't you? Well, that's why the blue ribbons are for!"
"To praise Ravenclaw?" was the sceptic reply
"Well!" shouted Sirius, starting to get annoyed "They couldn't be red, because I was wearing red yesterday, and gold… I mean, silver and gold, Prongs? That's just sooooo Christmas! And we're only in September!" and, as an afterthought, he added "Besides! My pendant is golden!"
"Right." Said James, crossing his arms in front of his chest "Don't ask for my opinion if you don't want to know the answer."
"I won't"
They walked in silence for a while, their noses pointing to the sky, until James stopped and, facing Sirius with his most earnest eyes, he said apologetically "Look, I'm sorry. I know I tend to think every Gryffindor should always wear red and gold, as I do, but if you want to wear other colours, it's fine with me"
"No!" said Sirius, taking his friend's hands in his "No, you were right! You just came out of your Morning Thickness and the first thing you see is me in silver and Wormtail in green! We've been so unconsidered… Right, Wormtail?"
"Yeah! Sure! What do you think Prongs?"
"I think I should be the one apologising! You should feel free to wear any colour of the rainbow! Slytherin should be a colourless House! And silver brings out your eyes, Padfoot!"
"Oh! Prongs!" said Sirius, crushing his friend in a bear hug.
"You look stunning!" said James, nearly crying.
Sirius hugged him a little more and finally released him, asking: "Friends forever?"
"Yeah mate!" answered James with a wicked smile "Marauder Power!"
"By the way" said Sirius, like nothing had happened "Where's Moony? He said he'd join us…"
"Dunno…" answered James, blushing slightly "I think he wanted to check on super-Harry… We had a bit of a… A something…" he frowned a bit and explained "I don't think we could call that a row. He just started crying. Anyway, you know Moony. He spent the night comforting the sissy and ended up sharing his bed."
"Oh." Said his friend, trying to remember the night before "I saw the guy. Didn't seem that depressed… Dunno. Wasn't paying attention, really. Caused a bit of trouble with a weird House Elf. And men, that girl can drink!"
James blinked stupidly, stopping in his tracks. Peter passed by them, not realising they had once again stopped, and poked Sirius in the eye with one of his enormous hat feathers.
"Auch!"
"You got drunk last night?"
"Yeah" said Sirius, rubbing his eye and catching Peter by the neck before he went too far away "With Hermione"
"Why didn't you call us?" said James, indignant. Suddenly realising who he was talking to, he added "No, wait, don't answer. Was she good?"
"I wouldn't know, we just got drunk…"
"Aaaaand?"
"And then I went to sleep and she stayed there, drinking. Really, nothing happened."
"You're loosing your touch"
"Am not!"
"You are."
Sirius grabbed a random Hufflepuff, snogged it senseless and turned in triumph to James, saying: "Am not!"
"That" said James, pointing to the Hufflepuff "Was a guy"
"Oh." Said Sirius, discomfited. But he recovered quickly "He enjoyed it anyway… Didn't you?" he yelled
The random Hufflepuff nodded vigorously.
"Anyway" said James, deciding that a change of subject was in order "Have you thought about the new lessons we're gonna take?"
"Not really… Which ones will you be taking?"
"Same as you." Said James, crossing the doors to the Great Hall.
Everyone turned to stare at them, while they stared in turn at the monochromatic crowd.
"Doesn't anyone have good taste in the 90's?"
oOoOoOo
Luna stopped talking abruptly and stood there, unmoving, mouth hanging open, looking towards the doors of the Great Hall. Now, had it been someone else who did this, Ginny would have looked in that direction without thinking, but, being as it was Loony Lovegood the one shocked beyond words, she thought it would be wise to ask her before.
"What happened, Luna?"
Her words echoed strangely in the Great Hall. Apparently, whatever was standing behind her was… well, she couldn't know what it was, but it sure was something huge.
"Luna?" she repeated.
Suddenly, a giggle was heard somewhere at the Ravenclaw table, probably from Cho Chang, and, as if they had been waiting for her signal, the rest of the students and staff quickly expressed their amusement in the way that suited them better, from Malfoy's sneer to Dumbledore's twinkling eyes. It was very weird.
Ginny turned towards the doors slowly, eyes half closed, ready to shut them if necessary and… she couldn't help it, she had to laugh.
There, in the doorway, stood three of the Marauders, wearing the most ridiculous outfits she had ever had the misfortune of coming across. Really, there was a reason the 70's got old-fashioned. Even if Dumbledore hadn't noticed.
James Potter was a Gryffindor. If she had ever had any doubts (which she didn't), there was the proof. The guy was the epitome of Lion's Pride. He was wearing a short red robe, laced with a golden ribbon that turned all over it until it pooled near his feet in a circle from which hung several shinning stars. He was grabbing his snitch-belt confidently, looking at the other students through his Gryffindor coloured glasses.
Wormtail wasn't better. If anything, he was worse. He was wearing long purple robes with a massive green collar and matching cuffs. On his hat was precariously perched an abnormally large pink hat with green ribbons and two enormous green feathers that matched perfectly his star-shaped sunglasses.
But the most impressive was probably Sirius.
Merlin, if she had known back in Grimmauld Place, she would have teased him mercilessly!
The man was wearing a summer robe (that is, a robe without sleeves) entirely covered in what looked like a thousand little shinny mirrors. All the rest went unnoticed when compared to it, from the blue gloves and matching ribbons to the golden pendant or the way too feminine bun. It was just… Shinny.
And she was repeating herself.
"Sirius!" she called.
Waiving her goodbyes to Luna, she strolled to the other side of the Great Hall to great the Marauders. After all, she was Harry's friend, it was probably her duty to make his father feel comfortable.
"Hi Ginny!" answered the animagus "How come you're wearing your uniform?"
He wasn't going to let that matter drop. It was too important.
"Err…" said the girl eloquently "It's on the School Rules, I think. Ask Hermione."
The four of them took a seat at the Gryffindor table, talking about small nothings while eating their breakfasts, like anyone around them was doing. They discussed the quality of Gryffindors mattresses (undoubtedly superior to the Slytherin's ones, though none of them had tried them), the correct temperature for boiling an egg and Snape's greasy hair. Quite the pleasant conversation.
They were discussing the pros and cons of each of the new classes they were supposed to choose from and trying to convince James not to take the housekeeping one, when Wormtail suddenly announced: "I am bisexual"
The three of them froze in what they were doing, until finally Sirius asked, a bit unnerved: "How did you get to that conclusion?"
Wormtail blushed a bit, but answered nonetheless: "I am developing a crush"
The other two didn't answer. Sirius looked more than a bit uncomfortable, which wasn't strange, seeing as the subject was very close to home and his best friend looked ready to puke. Frowning at the messy haired boy, Ginny decided to play supportive, even if only for Sirius's sake.
"Really?" she asked brightly "Who?"
Wormtail shot a dark look at his best friends, and said: "Blaise Zabini"
Surprisingly, Sirius let out a relieved sigh and laughed. While the other three looked at him nonplussed, he tapped Wormtail's back lightly and said: "You got me worried for a moment there, Wormtail! Don't worry about your sexuality: she's a girl. I can tell: I've been looking at her boobs all breakfast!"
Ginny, who had been holding up her spoon at that moment, dropped it.
"Are you sure?" asked Wormtail, who was used to Sirius's comments.
"Well" said James, looking slightly green "He looked pretty manly yesterday when I met him on the loo. But that's not the matter at hand: a guy, Wormtail?"
"I'm not sure!" answered Peter, very nervous but looking like he had every bit of intention to keep his ground "That's why I'm saying I'm bisexual: I don't care! And I've just told you I'm developing a crush for him or her, Padfoot, so, I'd really appreciate if you stopped ogling it!"
"It?" repeated Sirius, finally looking at his friend with a wicked smile "That's not the most nice to refer to the girl you have a crush on…"
"Actually" intervened Ginny on Wormtail's behalf "That's how we all refer to Zabini here, including the teachers. I've heard even Dumbledore doesn't know if it's a boy or a girl."
"So…" said James, absorbing the information and looking positively revolted by it "You're a real freak."
"I guess I am" shrugged Wormtail.
Ginny stared at them in disbelief. She could hardly believe her eyes. How could Wormtail agree so easily with him when he was calling him 'freak'? Ok: so, his choice as a… crush was a bit unusual, not to say weird, but still. They were supposed to be his best friends. They could at least show a bit of support!
In front of her, James and Sirius had resumed their previous conversation about the classes.
Standing slowly, she looked at the messy haired boy in front of her and said in a dark, dangerous voice "James. You are the most repulsive, arrogant, self-conceited, close-minded imbecile I have ever had the misfortune to meet."
That said, she threw her bowl of cereals to his face and strolled out of the Great Hall.
TBC (honest!)
Author Notes:
On James: I know. Homophobe to top it all. He is a big bastard, isn't he? Well... what can I say? I don't hate the character, and I actually grow fonder of him each time he opens his big mouth to say something completely out of place. He will eventually grow up to become the man Sirius and Remus remember, and I think you will enjoy more to see that change happen that if I presented you with the 'good James' since the begining. Really, he is not so bad... just a kid :P
On Harry and Draco: nop, they are not together yet. The key word being 'yet'.
On Blaise: yes, I know it's stupid. But, it's something that crossed my mind when I discovered there was actually a discussion on the forums on wether he was male or female... It's probably the silliest part of the plot! XD
Well... this is it. I had forgotten how fun it is to write this fic. I don't know if I had said it before, but I conceived it like a 'tv show', (one of those with lots of teen characters), not as a 'book',which doesn't change that much from my usual style because I'm prone to dialogues, but still. Anyway, I like it :P
For those who want to see what the robes the Marauders are wearing look like, my sister drew a fanart of them. Actually, I told my sister 'James is wearing 'gryffindor' robes, Sirius has a mirrored robe, and Wormtail a big feathered hat.' And one day she came to me and showed me what she had 'interpreted' from my words. Obviously, I changed the chapter to have them wearing those... erm... colourful? robes. The fanart wasn't finished when I started to post this, so... mmm... well, I coloured Sirius's outfit myself. And I'm not the 'skilled for drawing' sister. I think it shows.
Anyway, if someone is interested (and you should be, because she really knows what she's doing when she grabs a pencil), here's the link (just take out the spaces):
http / www. deviantart. com/ deviation/ 26527321/
Of course, if you like it, you're more than welcome to take a look at her gallery. I particularly like 'Eat her, darling', as will everyone who hates RT.
That said... Review please!