The Luckiest Man on Earth

The Luckiest Man on Earth 36



DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended



Chapter 36: The Storm



Just outside the Great Hall:



“Ally,” said Derrick nervously. “What is it?” He looked around for Terry nervously.



“Calm down,” said Ally in an irritated tone. For some reason, she didn’t like the furtive look in Derrick’s eyes when he looked at her. “He’s gone back to the dungeons. I just needed to talk to you.”



“It’s just that I don’t want to hurt him,” said Derrick as he chewed his lip.



Ally nodded gravely. She knew he was talking about Terry.



“The appointment is for tomorrow,” said Derrick with a confused look. “I’ve already said that I’ll come with you.”



“I know,” said Ally with a sigh. “I am grateful.”



“We are in this together,” said Derrick sincerely. “You know if you are pregnant, you have to have the baby. It would be a maychild.”



“I know,” said Ally with a slight sense of relief. She had wanted to find him and tell him about the baby. She forgot that as a pureblood, Derrick was fully aware of the ramifications of conceiving a child during the May revels.



“You aren’t thinking of telling Terry?” said Derrick lowly.



“Don’t you think that it would only be fair to him to do so?” asked Alicia as she bit her lip.



Derrick looked at her with a slightly stunned sense of disbelief. Honestly, Gryffindors.



“Ter will be more upset that I didn’t tell him sooner,” said Ally fretfully.



“Ter is going to be upset anyway,” said Derrick as guilt flooded through him. “Let’s wait until we know for sure. And if you tell him, make sure that Adrian is nearby. In fact, we should tell Adrian first.”



“Why?” asked Ally.



“Ter loves Adrian,” said Derrick with a confused look. “Surely, you know that.”



“I know,” said Ally as she rubbed her eyes. “Adrian will be furious.”



“Like a lioness with her cub,” said Derrick seriously. “Adrian is positively ferocious if he thinks that Terry is being hurt by anyone. I think that we should throw ourselves on his mercy if the time comes to tell Ter.”



“I love Terry, too,” said Ally defensively.



“Yes,” said Derrick impatiently. “But it’s just not the same. I mean they really love one another. You are a rather typical brave and foolish Gryffindor to get between those two.”



“They aren’t together anymore,” said Ally defensively.



“Bullocks,” said Derrick with a snort. “Ter and Adrian will always be together.”



“Adrian is with Daria,” protested Ally as her face got pale. Derrick shushed her as he spied Adrian coming out of the Great Hall.



“My,” said Adrian in a cold voice. “What do we have here?”



Adrian stopped in front the pair with a suspicious look on his face. His attention was focused on Ally’s pale, guilty face and Derrick’s composed expression.



“I wonder,” said Adrian intently. “I distinctly remember a rumor that said that you two had it off during the bacchanal. You aren’t perhaps indulging in a little affair, are you Spinnet?”



Ally shook her head mutely. Derrick only gave Adrian an incredulous look of innocence.



“Good,” said Adrian crisply. “If I hear you’ve jerked Ter around one more time Alicia, I am going to make you regret it.”



“Sod off, Pucey,” said Angelina’s annoyed voice. “That’s rich coming from you. You buggered off with Daria Greengrass one second after Terry and she broke up after screwing her behind his back for ages. Pot. Kettle. Black.”



“Are you angry because I was screwing her behind your back as well?” asked Adrian sweetly as he winced from her verbal blow. Her jibe had struck its mark. He lashed out.



“You would fuck anything that moves,” said Angelina dismissively as her face flushed.



“You should know, darling,” said Adrian smoothly.



“Wanker.”



“Bitch.”



“Slytherin Slag.”



“Stop it!” said Alicia interrupting their tirade. “Just stop it! People are looking.”



“The only feeling I have is disgust that I ever touched you,” said Angelina heatedly.



“Liar. I remember exactly how much you used to like to touch me,” said Adrian slyly.



“Shut up!” said Angelina.



“I also remember how I used to keep your mouth full,” said Adrian. “It cut down on your annoying chatter.”



“Bastard,” said Angelina.



“I wonder if Fredikins knows about the fling you had with Terry behind my back,” said Adrian slyly. “Have you perhaps ever screwed George behind his back? I wouldn’t put it passed you. But I forgot you love threesomes so perhaps Fred was there as you had a Weasley sandwich.”



“Oh, you absolute shit,” said Angie as she flushed.



“I wonder if your beloved Fred knows that you broke his little Gryffindor heart because you wanted to fuck me,” said Adrian heatedly. “Well, at least fuck me more often than you did already. Weren’t you still his girlfriend the first time I had you?”



“That’s all you were good at,” said Angelina as she set her hands on her hips. “I’ll say this about you. Even if your Quidditch is rubbish, you are at least good at something.”



“You evil witch,” said Adrian angrily. He drew out his wand. Angelina drew hers out as well. Gasps went through the entrance hall. They had attracted a small but fascinated crowd.



“Adrian,” said Derrick as he grasped his arm. “Don’t do anything foolish.”



“Angus,” said Adrian angrily. “She insulted my Quidditch ability. If she were a man, I would duel her.”



“If you were a man,” drawled Angelina. “I would accept.”



“Angie,” said Ally with a shocked tone. She looked around nervously as the crowd they were attracting. She tugged on Angie’s arm ineffectually.



“Have you heard,” said an excited little voice. Colin Creevey came up o the crowd oblivious to the undercurrents. “Something terrible has happened to Katie Bell. I saw them take her to the infirmary on a stretcher from the Gryffindor girls’ dorm. There was a strange lady with them. Someone said she was Flint’s mother.”



“Gods,” said Adrian seriously. He lowered his wand.



“Katie,” breathed Alicia. She turned without a word for the infirmary. Angie paled and followed quickly on her heels.



“We have to find Marcus,” said Adrian to Angus.



The Slytherin Common Room:



“Where is he?” asked Terry with a concerned look.



“The infirmary,” said Alec crisply. “Bell’s had an accident.”



“An accident, eh?” said Adrian suspiciously.



“I know,” said Alec pensively. “It’s rather surprising, today being her birthday and all. Do you know anyone who would want to ruin Bell’s birthday?”



“Billy,” said Angus with disgust.



“Bletchley could never even spell the word ‘subtlety’,” mused Alec. His grey eyes narrowed in contemplation.



“She must have known that she would be the prime suspect if anything happened to Katie,” said Adrian.



“But she is a crazy bint,” pointed out Terry.



Marcus’s mates were gathered in the common room around one of the black couches. Tarquin Bole and Alec MacIntyre were sitting on a settee. Terry was pacing. And Derrick and Pucey had just joined the group. Chris Warrington was staring pensively into the flames.



“Okay,” said Tarquin as he straightened his tie. “I am going to class. Chris, Angus and I are going to discover where the gossip is coming from and if it is reliable. Then search down those tidbits of gossip that are too good and too accurate. I’ll get the girls to help.”



“How do you know what is accurate is what is not?’ asked Adrian.



“I was here when Marcus got word,” said Tarquin seriously. “Bell was given an abortion potion in her juice.”



“Fuck,” said Angus Derrick. “It has to be Billy. She has no idea what she’s just unleashed. Is Katie going to be all right?”



“I don’t know,” said Alec. “Professor Snape is in his potions lab as we speak. At least, he has an actual sample of the potion. It makes an antidote much easier to brew. But I shudder to think what will happen if that baby dies.”



“Marcus is going to fucking kill her,” said Warrington seriously.



“Yes,” said Tarquin. “With good cause. You know, with an ancient Wizarding betrothal in effect, Marcus could conceivably get away with killing Billy.”



“The heir clause,” said Alec with a nod. “The child is the sole heir in direct line to a pureblood Wizarding family. Killing the child would give Marcus reasonable grounds. But he would have to do it with a formal duel.”



“I know,” said Terry pensively. “But I can’t imagine Marcus having a firm grip on his temper.”



“We are going to be late,” said Tarquin after a short heavy silence. “I’ll report back at lunch.”



“The rest of us are going to skive off,” said Alec.



Terry and Adrian gave Alec incredulous looks.



“Merlin save me,” chortled Terry. “Did Alec just say he was going to skive off? Is hell freezing over?”



“Bugger off,” said Alec as he smirked. “I have skived off before.”



“Alec,” said Adrian dryly. “Skiving off doesn’t mean skipping potions with Snape’s permission in order to do special research projects.”



“It doesn’t?” said Alec innocently.



Daria Greengrass came into the common room and headed straight for Alec. Her face was parchment pale white.



“I have to talk to you Alec,” said Daria seriously.



“Is it about Katie Bell?” asked Adrian as he took her hand then he frowned. Her hand was cold, very cold.



“What about Katie?’ asked Daria with some confusion.



“What is wrong, Daria?” asked Alec as he looked into her pale face. She looked like she was in shock. She was white and shivering. Daria just tugged on Alec’s hand and looked at him beseechingly. Alec nodded reassuringly and then Alec, Terry and Adrian followed Daria into the seventh year Slytherin girl’s corridor.



Unlike the other Houses, Snape thought in ludicrous and old fashioned that the staircases to the girls’ dorms in other Houses were enchanted. He merely set powerful wards on the doors of every underage dorm room regardless of sex. The seventh year corridors were unwarded. Snape felt that adults should be treated as adults. Besides, Hogwarts was where most pureblood wizards found their witches. School was not only for learning.



Alec opened the door to Daria’s room and gasped. He rushed over to the bed where Mariah was lying unconscious.



“We have to get her to Madame Pomfrey,” said Adrian in an urgent tone to Terry.



“You can’t,” said Daria as she stood in the middle of the room and wrung her hands.



“Merlin,” said Alec in a panicked voice. “She’s cold.”



“I put in her in ice cold water to bring down her temperature,” said Daria as she shivered. Adrian pulled her into his arms and chaffed at her shoulders.



“She’s left a note,” said Daria in a high distressed voice. “She said if you try to move her out of this room, she will die. She took an overdose of the dreamless sleep potion and set charms to resist treatment. When I managed to make her throw up a lot of the potion, it overheated her body temperature. I am afraid to move her or to try anything else.”



“Why?” whispered Alec as he looked down into Mariah’s wan face.



“I know,” said Terry. His face was just as pale as Daria’s and he held a piece of parchment in his hands. “Billy was blackmailing her. Billy had incriminating pictures of Mariah. She made her masquerade as Persephone Stebbins with polyjuice potion and give an interview to the Daily Prophet about how she and Marcus were engaged. Mariah thought that Billy was just trying to cause another scandal by claiming Marcus’s father and Persephone were lovers, as well. When she found out this morning in the common room that Billy had used the paper to distract Katie in order to slip her an abortion potion, she went mental. She thought that when Marcus found out it was her impersonating Persephone; he might think that she gave to potion to Katie. But she didn’t. She says it must be someone else Billy was blackmailing. But she says that she just can’t live with the mess that she’s made of her life and the damage she caused to other lives.”



“Oh, Mariah,” said Daria as she started to cry.



“I think she tried to tell me earlier,” said Alec. His face was utterly pale. “But I said I was too busy. Why didn’t she tell Marcus?”



“Because that evil bitch lied and told her that her spies were watching her, I bet,” said Terry heatedly. “That would be something Billy would say. Plus Billy had a network of spies before she left.”



“Yes,” said Daria tearfully. “And Billy had a way of finding people’s weak points. And Mariah’s weak point is her father. She lives to please him.”



“She’s going to live,” said Alec determinedly and seriously. He started to strip the sheet away from Mariah’s body with an intent air.



“What are you going to do?” asked Daria plaintively. “You’ll make it worse.”



“I am the best student in this damn school at Charms,” said Alec intensely. “There is no way I am going to let her defeat me.”



“And we are all going to help,” said Adrian. He moved to Mariah’s other side.



“Come on, Daria,” said Terry gently. “We are not going to let Mariah go without a fight.”



“Okay,” said Daria as she wiped her eyes and went to stand beside Adrian.



An hour later, after counter charm after counter charm, Alec left and used his prefect password to get the antidote to the dreamless sleep potion that was in Professor Snape’s private stores. He paused outside of Snape’s workroom but he was not there. He was in the infirmary where Alec assumed he and Pomfrey were trying to save Katie Bell’s life.



Alec poured the potion down Mariah’s throat and waited. The Slytherins were intently watching Mariah’s face that they did not hear the man come up behind them.



“Mr. MacIntyre,” said Severus Snape. His obsidian eyes were focused on the girl lying in the bed. He froze and quickly moved to Mariah’s bedside as Alec quickly and succinctly filled his House head in on the situation.



“Higgs,” said Snape shortly. “Go get me the box of potions that are behind the powdered asphodel in my workroom. Quickly.”



Ter left the room with a sense of relief. He felt better as Snape took over the situation. He didn’t feel as helpless.



“You should have come to get me,” said Snape as he skewered Alec with a glare.



“You were busy with the antidote for Katie Bell,” said MacIntyre reasonably.



“I would have made time for this situation,” said Snape dryly. “Is she ready to be moved?”



“Every positioning charm I could think of is countered,” said Alec confidently.



Snape took out his wand and muttered a few charms in Gaelic over Mariah.



“The foolish girl is Scottish,” said Snape in explanation. “She may know a few obscure charms.”



“Is it safe to move her?” asked Daria tearfully.



Terry came back in the room with the box of potions. Professor Snape reduced the box and put it in his pocket.



“It is as safe as it is going to get,” said Snape seriously. “But if we do not get her to Madame Pomfrey, the point may be moot. Poppy Pomfrey is the best medi-witch in Britain when it comes to countering the long term effects of overdoses of potions. But at least MacDuff is stable now. The immediate danger has passed with not small help from all of you.”



Daria nodded and watched as Snape lifted Mariah up in his arms and carried her towards his office. He had an emergency floo to the infirmary.



A heavy silence fell in the room. Alec sat down heavily on Mariah’s bed and looked sightlessly into the distance.



“Adrian,” said Daria softly. She looked dazed by the swiftness of the events. “What has happened to Katie Bell?’



“Oh, fuck,” said Adrian as he shot to his feet. “I nearly forgot. Merlin’s mother, Daria, Billy tried to kill Katie, again. At least I think it was Billy. Could you think of anyone else who would try to feed Katie an abortion potion?”



“An abortion potion?” said Daria with a horrified look at Adrian. “Gods, I cannot believe she would do such a thing. But still…”



“What do you mean?” asked Terry intently. He caught the hesitant note in Daria’s voice and the shuttered look in her eyes.



“It was last term,” said Daria haltingly. “There was a girl in Slytherin that thought she was pregnant. Billy, Mariah and I helped her look for a potion. I remember Billy running across an old one that involved diseased rye. It was Roman and came from the Vestal Virgins. It was very easy to make but it was far too strong. It had a lot of sugar in it to disguise the taste. Billy recommended it but she also joked that it might kill more than the girl intended. I can’t believe I laughed. Gods. It ended up that the girl was just late.”



“Who was it?” asked Terry with his eyes alight with curiosity. “And why didn’t she just marry the wizard?”



“He was a muggle born,” said Daria. “And I am not telling you who it was.”



“Billy must have remembered the potion and fed it to Katie,” said Alec pensively. “And I just don’t understand why Billy did it. She must know that Marcus will marry Bell regardless of whether or not there is a child.”



“Jealousy,” said Adrian. “Billy used Mariah to get revenge on Persephone Stebbins as well. It would have been a full fledged scandal if that article appeared in the paper. Persephone wouldn’t be able to show her face in public for months.”



“Now we have to find out where Billy is,” said Alec with a determined look on his face. “I have a score to settle with her.”



“Isn’t she in Durmstrang?” asked Adrian.



“Durmstrang has a study week at the end of May before they take their end of term exams,” said Alec. “There are no classes. Even Billy would be clever enough to skive off classes.”



“Billy is close by, isn’t she?” asked Daria with a horrified look on her face. “It would be just like her. She would want to see the destruction she caused.”



“She would want to be near Marcus,” said Terry grimly. “She’s obsessed.”



“Do you think we can sneak into Hogsmeade?” asked Alec.



“I knew how to sneak into Hogsmeade since third year,” said Adrian dismissively.



“What are we waiting for?” asked Daria.

Terry was gathering his cloak in his room when Adrian came up behind him.



“I did something mad,” said Adrian a bit shamefaced as he quickly changed. “And you are going to hear about it because I did it front of witnesses.”



“What?” asked Terry curiously.



“In the entrance hall, I confronted your girlfriend about jerking you about then had a very public argument with Angie. The whole school is going to know about the fling we had by the end of classes.”



“Well,” said Terry. “It was bound to get out.”



“I also mentioned the whole fling you had with Angie, too,” said Adrian as he winced.



“Fuck off, Pucey,” said Terry as he looked at his best mate with a look of horror.



“And the threesome,” said Adrian.



Terry only sighed heavily and closed his eyes.



“Sorry,” said Adrian.



“You better be,” said Terry. “Everyone is going to think we are a bunch of tarts.”



“Terrence,” said Adrian with a slight smile. “I hate to break the sad news, but they already do.”



The Slytherins went up the staircase to the entrance hall. Terry gasped as he spotted Alicia coming out of the Great Hall.



“I’ll catch up,” said Terry. “I have to talk to Ally.”



“By the way, I found your girlfriend ‘talking’ to Derrick again,” said Adrian casually. “That’s what started the fight. I thought that she and Derrick were having it off.”



The Entrance Hall:



“Ally,” said Terry. He ran up to her in the deserted entrance hall.



“Terry,” said Alicia faintly. All she could think about in class today was Katie and the situation with Terry and Derrick. The Headmaster had turned them away at the infirmary doors. The stress was making her head pound. Dumbledore had said that Katie was through the immediate danger but Ally shuddered to think about what Katie was going through at this precise moment.



“Why didn’t you tell me?” asked Ter lowly as he grasped Ally by the forearms.



Alicia’s heart jumped into her throat as she looked into his angry face. He must have found out about Derrick.



“I…I...” stuttered Ally. Now the worst had come to pass and she couldn’t force the words past her closed throat. Her eyes filled with tears.



“What?” snapped Ter.



“I couldn’t find the words,” said Ally unsteadily. “I wanted to but our relationship couldn’t stand the blow.”



“Are you daft?” said Terry. “Did you think I would do something completely mad over something like that?”



“You’ve been depressed,” said Ally tearfully.



“I know,” shrugged Ter uncomfortably. His hands began to caress her shoulders apologetically.



“I didn’t know how you would handle finding out about me and him,” said Ally as she bit her lip and her heart lifted in sudden hope. “I know that you and Derrick are friends and I didn’t want to ruin that friendship unnecessarily.”



Terry stepped away from her with a surprised expression on his face.



“I’m so sorry,” whispered Alicia as she started to cry.



“What are you talking about Alicia?” said Terry as he enunciated his every word carefully.



“That night of the bacchanal,” said Alicia.



“I am talking about that fight you had with Adrian and Angelina outside the Great Hall an hour ago,” said Terry icily. “What the fuck are you talking about?”



Alicia could only gaze at his angry face with a rising sense of horror.



“Alicia,” growled Terry.



“You’ll be angry,” said Ally tearfully. “I think I am pregnant.”



Terry’s face went scarlet then the blood drained from his face. He stepped further way from Ally.



“It’s not mine, is it?” said Terry dully.



“No,” said Ally. Her throat was closing with misery.



“Derrick?” asked Terry quietly.



Ally nodded.



Terry turned on his heel and was walking away when Alicia came up behind him and grabbed at his shoulder.



“What more do you want to tell me?” said Terry coldly. “That you and Tarquin are having it off behind my back as well?”



“It was a bacchanal,” protested Ally. “And I never asked you what you did that night.”



“This is a freaking baby, Ally,” said Terry heatedly. “A child conceived at the May revels. You and fucking Derrick have to have the child! All I did was have it off with Oliver Wood then went to Ravenclaw for a good time.”



“You and Oliver,” gasped Alicia with shock. “Did you…?”



“I believe the term you are looking for is ‘fucked’,” said Terry sarcastically. “We had unfinished business from the Beltane Bash. We ‘finished it’ a few times.”



‘I thought Oliver was with that Slytherin seventh year, Delilah” said Ally with confusion.



“Oh,” said Terry with a cool smile. “Delilah and I had some unfinished business, as well. She was there, too.”



“And you dare get irate with me?” said Ally angrily.



“I’ve ignored how many times you’ve been caught with Derrick,” said Terry bitterly. “Even now, after Adrian told me about earlier, I thought there was no way that you would have an affair behind my back. I thought we were striving for honesty and acceptance. If you wanted Derrick, I would have let you have him. Hell, I would have joined in. You just had to tell me. At the bacchanal, Alicia, I had assumed you were fucking someone else that night. It was a freaking bacchanal for Merlin’s sake. Gods, I hate Gryffindors. They are so melodramatic for no real reason. All that talk about honor and all they really want to do is sit around their shabby red common room and feel guilty for having natural wants and desires.”



“I wanted to tell you but Derrick wanted to wait until we knew for sure that I was pregnant,” said Alicia tearfully. “He said he didn’t want to hurt you.”



“You mean you don’t know that you’re pregnant yet?!?” asked Terry with a spot of color on his cheekbones.



“No,” said Alicia. “I am just late.”



“You know what?” said Terry heatedly. “I think Derrick had the right of it. He didn’t want me to freak until I had reason to freak. Have you fucked him since the bacchanal?”



Alicia shook her head.



“So this entire melodramatic charade was to make you feel better?” yelled Terry. “Now that you are nice and guilty, do you feel better now that you’ve confessed all?”



Alicia shook her head.



“I don’t have time to deal with this,” said Terry as he ran his hands through his hair and just glared at Alicia.



“We have to talk,” pleaded Alicia.



“You better believe we have to talk,” said Terry grimly. “But I have more important things to worry about in the next few hours.”



“Terry,” pleaded Ally.



“Alicia,” said Terry sternly. “Finding out who tried to kill Katie is more important.”



“Oh,” said Alicia as she calmed down.



Ter turned to go and threw a disgusted look over his shoulder at Alicia. She was crying in a corner. Merlin, he hoped she wasn’t pregnant but the constant tears were not a good sign.











Author\'s Note: I am sorry this chapter took so long but it was hard to incorporate all I needed to.