rushing toward the future.

Peter tried not to huff, or be more irritated than he was. Normally he was all about having a good time, especially with someone willing to shrug off studying, but not today. “Okay, yes, typically I would. But I have plans for later, and I’d rather not be late to them?” He offered a half smile, and a small clap as Dorcas dismounted, then adjusted his book bag. “Yeah, the tree is good, so long as we actually sit by it by it.” He chuckled softly, letting her know he really wasn’t in a bad mood, but for once wanted to do things according to plan.

Joining in his laughter, she nodded, before removing her robe and turning it into something of a cushion to sit on by folding it up, then placing it at the base of the tree. With back against the tree once she sat, she pulled some books from her bag and opened up her Potions textbook, flipping to an arbitrary page before looking up at Peter. “Well, what should we study, Mr. Pettigrew?” she started, “well, obviously potions. But where do we start?”

“I found a copy of Superman in the library back in third year.  Someone had left it.  I started reading it, and was completely hooked, so I started ordering them, and then there was the Justic League comics, and that led to the Flash.  It’s far better reading than anything else we’ve got.”  He shook his head about her next question.  “Why would a circus fly?  All that monkey and elephant shit everywhere?  It sounds like a complete mess.”  He scoffed, blinking once, twice, and then a third time.  Surely, she had to be joking.  It was a noncontested fact that James Potter was the best chaser in the school.  At least, he thought it was noncontested.  He wouldn’t have been made captain this year if he hadn’t been just downright incredible.  Right?  “Now you’re just being mean.  Faye Dunaway or Linda Carter, maybe, but not Charlotte Rampling.  She just doesn’t do it for me.”  Letting out an overexaggerated sigh, James placed his hand in her own.  “I already know what it says, but feel free to confirm it.”

She laughed, saying, “they really need to get a librarian cleaning up that stuff. Though, I guess it’s a good thing you found it.” Shaking her head, she said, “no, no! It’s not actually about a flying circus! It’s just a bunch of different comedy sketches. Each episode is a different thing, and it’s really funny! Like, there’s one about a cheese shop, but it doesn’t have any cheese. You just have to watch it to get it.” His reaction made her laugh again, and she shook her head, saying, “fine, James, you’re the best. And I never took you for the type to be so into blondes. Now, come on.” With his hand in hers, she motioned for him to sit down. She, herself, sat cross legged onto the ground, fingers spreading open his palm so she could look at it. 

“I’ll fix you up,” he promised.  “Spiderman, Flash, and Superman.  You’ll be begging for more afterwards, and believe me, I’ve got more.”  His smile suddenly felt a little bit more forced at the mention of Lily.  Which was absolutely ridiculous considering they’d been broken up for a while, their relationship having fallen apart long before that.  “That’s what I like to hear,” was what he said instead.  He mimicked her shrug at her offer of candy.  While he could typically buy himself as much as he wanted, he was also never one to completely turn down someone else’s offer.  And really, it was in repayment for his services, so he did earn it.  At least, he did if James didn’t think too hard about the fact that he started the whole thing with his little prank.  “Candy sounds good.  Besides, I can already tell you what my palm says.”  Holding up his hand, James pointed to various parts of it with his wand.  “That says I’m going to become the best professional chaser in the world.  That says I’m going to live a long and healthy life.  And… that says I’m going to marry Farrah Fawcett.”

“How’d you get into all that Muggle stuff? All I know is whatever my dad watches on a TV.” She had to admit, Muggle TV was way better than most forms of entertainment that Wizards had. All the glamour, glitz, and comedy. Maybe James would know some of that. “Have you seen Monty Python’s Flying Circus? Seems like something you and the boys would enjoy!” With a laugh, she shook her head, doubting for one second that he knew anything about palm reading. “Yeah?” she questioned, leaning in to hear what he said. It only resulted in laughter. “Really? With everything going on, you’re just going to be a chaser? You’re not even the best chaser at our school!” she teased, knowing that, while it was a lie, it would certainly rile him up. “And Farrah Fawcett? I’d think Charlotte Rampling was more your type. Those aren’t even things you can really tell with palmistry, by the way!” Her hand reached out to his and she said, here, just let me read your palm.”

“You’re going to be hooked,” he said, completely matter of fact.  His expression though changed to a more serious one, eyebrows furrowed behind glasses as he raised his wand. “But if you mess up any of my comics, I will come for your head.  Do you understand?”  Cracking his neck and bouncing up and down a few times to hype himself up, James changed his grip on his wand.  A murmured incantation, a flick of his wand, and James changed Dorcas’s hair to a brown a little lighter than what it had been before the whole ordeal.  “Alright,” he said, lowering his wand.  “What’s my prize?  Because if it isn’t something downright amazing, then we’re going right back to the Spiderman colors.”

“Oh I’m sure! I’d love to hear about this spider guy.” With a laugh, she nodded, adding, “don’t worry, I’ll treat them better than Lily treats her textbooks!” Eyes rolled at the sight of his preparation tactics, to which she wanted to say ‘just do it already!’ but she didn’t want to ruin his focus, that is, if the incredible James Potter even needed to focus. After he was done, she fluffed up her hair and took a look, grinning and saying, “perfect!” She gave something of a bow and said, “well done, Mr. Potter. I owe you... some candy?” Dorcas shrugged. “Yeah, I was thinking I could treat you to some Honeyduke’s this weekend. But if that’s not good enough, I can totally read your palm, or something?”

“You need to read a comic book.  They’ll change your life.”  He shrugged at her question about whether or not she’d do such a thing to him.  Sure, James knew that she probably wouldn’t.  But, depending on just how long he made her wait to change her hair back to normal, there still might be some sort of retalliation.  Especially when she pulled her wand out.  “Put the wand up or I won’t do it,” James countered.  “And really, I think you’re missing out on the whole teal idea.  You’d be starting a new trend.  I can feel it.”  James rolled his eyes at her last sentence.  “I’m hurt.  Really.  If I can turn your hair bright red and blue, I promise that normal colors are far within my realm, too.  I’m just that incredible.”

“Grab me one and I’ll read it.” It wasn’t exactly under great consideration whether or not she’d point her wand away –– if she didn’t, he wouldn’t change her hair back, and if he changed her hair to something strange again she could always bring her wand back to aim at him and give him a meter-long nose. “Maybe I’ll be willing to try teal some other time,” she told him, lowering her wand and standing up straight. “Oh, yes, well, Mr. Incredible, why don’t you prove it and change my hair back? There’s something in it for you if you do.” With a smile, she flipped her hair, motioning for him to change it.

“Comic books are not muggle nonsense.”  He placed a hand to his chest, trying to look appalled at the insinuation.  “They are nothing but the highest standard of muggle literature, and anyone who says otherwise is lying.”  James couldn’t help but laugh again as she kept swatting at him, finally grabbing at her hands to put a stop to it.  “Who said that the red and blue doesn’t suit you?  It might be a little bright, but I think that just makes it all the more fun.”  When he felt that she had to be done trying to hit him, he released his grip on her hands, messing around with his wand once more.  “See, I could teach you the charm, but that could also be dangerous.  You might decide to try and get revenge on me, making my hair orange with black stripes.  And I simply cannot pull off orange, no matter how hard I try.”  Letting out a sigh, James held up his wand.  “So, what color were you thinking?  Lime green?  Lavender?  A nice teal, perhaps?”

“As if I’d know anything about that,” she said, “the only thing my dad reads is cook books!” Her wrists struggled to get free from his grasp, but as soon as she calmed down, she felt it loosen. They darted away from him, safely into her pockets, while one hand wrapped around her wand just to be safe. “I hate it, James! And you really think I’d do that to you? I’m not one of your prankster friends. When I do something to someone’s hair, I make it look better, okay?” Eyes set on his wand, she was ready to counter anything he could throw at her, pulling her own wand from her pocket. “No... I was thinking more of a light brunette, or maybe even a dark brown, almost black kind of thing. If that’s within your abilities.”

“Which is a downright shame, because everyone needs to know who Spiderman is.  Not quite as great of a hero as the Flash or Superman, but he’s the best that Marvel’s got to offer.”  He watched, eyebrow rasied as she started to try and get down.  Sure, she wasn’t high enough for there to be any real damage if she were to fall off.  But, he could already see himself getting blamed for something terrible if she did hurt herself enough to be taken to the hospital wing.  Still, when she was back on the ground, her hand pulling at her hair, James couldn’t help but laugh.  “I told you.  You’re the right colors now.  Spiderman wears a blue and red outfit.  Really, you got off easy.  My original idea was to make your hair red and your skin blue, but that seemed a little too obvious and I didn’t have that much time.  Besides, the new look really isn’t half bad.”

She rolled her eyes, but couldn’t stifle a laugh. “Should have known you were on about some muggle nonsense, you absolute dork!” Pushing all of her hair back, she stepped towards him, a hand lashing out to hit at his chest. “Change it back, now!” she demanded, the back of her hand slapping at him gently as she glared up at him. 

James couldn’t believe just how gullible she was.  After all, they’d been around each other for how many years?  Saying that she couldn’t do something, just to put her in a position that made it hard to escape, was one of the oldest tricks in the book.  And yet, he almost felt bad about how easy this all was going to be.  Almost.  “You’re right,” he said, shrugging.  “I had no idea just how wrong I was about your tree climbing abilities.  I’m terribly sorry for assuming that you couldn’t do this.”  Taking out his wand, James tapped it against his thigh a few times, acting as though he was just thinking as he kept talking.  “It almost gives you a Spiderman look, too.  Which, bears the question: am I Gwen or Mary Jane?  I feel more like an MJ, if only because I don’t want to meet the same fate Gwen did.  Of course, if this makes you Spiderman…” James said.  “Then we’ve got to get you the right color scheme.”  With a flick of his wand, James cast a charm, turning her hair into a pattern of bright red and blue before grinning.  “Much better.”

With a grin, she crossed her arms and angled her head down, or, rather, up towards him, listening to his spiel. “Shut up, James, I’m sure you didn’t doubt me. I just wanted an excuse to so it,” she admitted, reaching out a hand to gently ‘hit’ him in the arm, before bringing that arm to grab onto the branch she hung from. As he talked about some sort of Spider-man, she interrupted, “you know I have no idea who the hell you’re talking about!” as she fumbled about on the branch, preparing to climb down. Right color scheme? She looked at him, confused, before hopping down from the tree, wiping her jeans of any bark fragments with her hands, before she looked back up, her hair falling in front of her face. “Wh–” she started, combing her fingers through her hair, bringing a few strands forward to inspect them, before reacting, “James Potter! What in bloody hell did you do to my hair?!”

“It’s not that I don’t believe you!” Gladys gasped, reaching out her hands as if she would be able to keep Dorcas from falling should that become the situation. A slight whining noise emitted from the back of her throat, but calmed as it seemed that Dorcas was secure. “As long as you don’t fall and break your skull,” she sighed, “There are wounds that skelegro cannot fix.”

“You’re right, don’t worry! I won’t –– WOOAH!” she shouted, feigning a fall, flailing her arms around before laughing, then moving to grab back onto the branch so that she could carefully let herself down from the tree. “Don’t worry, that’s probably the most daring thing I’d do. I’m not keen on doing something stupid, or getting hurt. I’ve never broken a bone, you know!”

She looked up to Dorcas, raising an eyebrow. “That means someone has to be not terrified of me. Name me one person who doesn’t fear me punching them in the face. It was so much easier last year when my fun buddy was here.” she commented, running a hand through her hair. She knew everyone was getting highly stressed, it felt almost selfish to feel like it was worse for her, all parents had expectations but Glenda hadn’t taken things seriously but now she needed to. Whatver everyone else was feeling, she was feeling double. “Or if you’re offering.” she added, letting out a snort. 

“It couldn’t be that hard! Maybe you just have to turn up the charm for a little bit, you know, just for long enough to get some snogging in,” she suggested, giggling. It was that time of year where everyone could use a little bit of kisses or maybe even some hand-play between study sessions, and Dorcas had already been the person to go to for advice when it came to these needs. She laughed, teasing “only if you take me on a date first!” then shaking her head. “No, sorry, I’m not like that. But I’d be glad to help you find someone who is.”

“It has nothing to do with trust,” Peter continued, sure he was about to witness something horrible happen, and then get blamed for it by Lily and Marlene. “And more to do with, well, everything else.” He huffed and stood, coming face to upside down face with Dorcas, crossing his arms. “Brilliant. Good for you, Dor. I just hope you’re just as good at getting down.” Peter was no stranger to climbing trees, though when you used four paws that had helpful clinging nails, it really was a breeze. He was also one of the last people that would object to a little goofing off, but he had specifically set this time aside to study with her, instead of spending time with Rita and he didn’t want to waste it. They may not have O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s, but they still had end of year exams.

“Getting down is the easy part,” she laughed, grabbing back at the tree branch and pulling her torso up towards it so that she could let her legs dangle. “I thought you might be up for something fun, knowing you and the boys!” Letting go, she fell from the branch and landed on her feet, stumbling a little before catching the proper footing then standing up straight, hands on her hips as she posed triumphantly. With a laugh, she then went to comb through her hair, tidying it up to be in relatively the same form that it was styled in before she climbed the tree. “Alright, so, let’s get started. Wanna sit by the tree?”

“It’s less that I don’t trust you and more that I don’t care.” Narcissa had come out to do some reading, hoping for peace and quiet and what she got instead was her work being interrupted by someone she honestly didn’t care about. “Tree-climbing isn’t an impressive skill and I’m trying to read.”

Eyes rolled before she adjusted her place on the branch, feet trekking up the trunk of the tree and arms moving so that she could seat herself onto the branch; the thickest part, of course, right by the trunk so she could hold onto it. She was as brave as any Gryffindor, but she wasn’t stupid, and a trip to the hospital wing after falling from a tree would certainly look just that. “All you snakes do is sit around reading and sleep in the dungeons, no wonder you’re so grumpy. You sound like you could use some tea, or some firewhiskey.”

“Verdammt. Scheiße. I need to get laid.” she sighed, rubbing her hands across her face. She sat up, stretching out her back as she cracked her fingers, hissing just slightly as the fresh cuts across her knuckles split once more. Her stress levels were not good and she had found herself punching the wall the night before to de-stress. She only had a month left, but with the ultimatum hanging over her head from her father, she wished she had longer to brush up on her lessons. 

“Oh yeah? Whose gonna be the lucky guy?” Dorcas teased, in hopes to lighten up the mood. “Or girl.” She could tell that the other was definitely going through something rough, but who wasn’t this time of year? Especially with exams coming up. She didn’t know why Glenda was so stressed, but she was curious enough to want to find out.