There'll be peace when you are done -- Winter/Spring 1997

I glared at her. "I guess you could say that." It wasn't really any of her business, but the potion would be effecting me even more soon and didn't want to start an argument with her. "What of your things were you looking for?" I realized, now that I had the potion, she was probably lying about that but then why was she looking through my things and why did she care so much about the cure? I had placed my flask in my messenger bag and put my hands on my hips, waiting for an answer.

"Oh, just some school things," I said quickly with a shrug.  "I'll just have to see if they're somewhere else."  I really did not want her to be in here snooping to figure out what I was really up to.  It was not as if I did not like Juniper, we just had a hard time getting along at times.  And this was one of those times.

I crossed my arms, still not sure if I believed her. I wanted to go outside since the weather was sort of nice and maybe do some homework by the lake. I could see if Linc wanted to study for his N.E.W.Ts while I got some of my essays done. Pansy was Draco's friend though, that's the only reason I asked, "Do you want any help looking?"

I smiled politely and shook my head.  "No, thank you, though," I said.  "I'll ask Millie if she has them.  They aren't in her belongings, but sometimes she grabs things that she thinks I may want for classes..."  I knew I would be going out on a limb and I hoped Draco would not mind if I did what I was about to do.  I bit my lip slightly.  "I think Matthews is looking for you, too, by the way," I told her.  If I was to go to either him or Draco with the information I had, perhaps it be best if one of them was keeping an eye on Juniper.

My eyebrows knitted together in confusion, usually if Linc or I were looking for each other we were able to just find each other somehow. Something was going on here but the effects of the potion prevented me from really caring too much. "Do you know what he wanted or where he is?" I asked, maybe Linc knew what was up. I was going to go peak on the Vanishing Cabinet before I tried to find Linc but if he was looking for me, it could be important. The Vanishing Cabinet could wait.

I shook my head and shrugged, trying to seem bored of it all.  "I don't really know.  I just heard some people talking about it," I told her.  "So take it for what it's worth... but if I had a cutie looking for me, I wouldn't leave him waiting," I replied.  That was one thing going for her -- Matthews was gorgeous and, whether or not they wanted to admit it, I swear they both fancied each other.

I blushed slightly as I looked down, a small smile forming on my face. I did fancy Linc and he was cute. "It's not like it matters that much though, we're just friends. He doesn't think of me as anything more." I assured her. No one would, I wasn't important, I was just the disappointment. With that thought, I wanted to take another swig of the cure but I couldn't take it out again while we were together. She seemed far to interested in it for my taste.

"You are right about one thing, I don't want to keep him waiting. I'll see your later." I tuned and headed back towards the door to the dorm, just as I was about to leave I turned back towards her. "Let me know if you end us finding your things." I left the dorm and the common room, found a dark corner and took some more of the potion. I sighed again, unsure of why I felt like I had to hide what I was doing. I shrugged, not concerning myself with that issue right now. I headed towards the grounds, knowing that Linc preferred outside to in, no matter what the weather was like. If I was going it find him, I would have better luck outside then inside.

Her reaction told me everything I needed to know about the matter of Matthews.  I let her leave and left shortly afterwards to hunt down Draco.  He tended to disappear, though, where no one was able to find him.  I would do my best to track him down to tell him what I had seen.  I wished that I could have gotten more details than what i had, but this would have to do.

I could not stay in the common room, too many people.  I ended up back out by the lake, hoping that Draco would be able to answer my question sooner rather than later.  He tended to hide himself away somewhere and I could not help but wonder if that was part of Juniper's problem.  She needed her brother and he was nowhere to be found.  But I had to push that aside... there was no point in thinking negatively about Draco right now when Juniper needed our attention.  And if one thing was certain, no matter what Draco was up to, he would do anything and everything to make sure Juniper got better.

I was walking the grounds and was happy that the lake was one of the first places I looked because that's where Linc was. I smiled as I ran over. "Linc." I said to get his attention. Once I got to him I placed my bag on the ground. I sighed and smiled up at him. "You'll never guess what just happened. I went into the girls dorm and Pansy was looking through my things. She said the house elfs mixed up our stuff but I don't believer her. She seemed pretty interested in your cure but I didn't tell her what it was. She thought it was an extra credit thing for Snape." I gave a laugh. "Can you believe it?" I looked him up and down and realized he didn't have any of his school things. "Where's all your stuff, don't you want to study?"

<< if you don't want June to find him yet or bring up the cure I can edit/delete it. Also if Linc does have his things, let me know and I'll edit it. >>

<< Nope, it's perfectly fine!   >>

I was headed out to the grounds where I was hoping to find Matthews and maybe even Pansy.  On my way down the steps I saw Pansy walking ahead of me, clearly looking for someone and I was sure that someone was either me or Matthews.  I caught up to her.  "Pansy, what'd you find?" I asked her, not wanting to deal with any sort of pleasantries.  I wanted to get this situation under control as soon as I could and I was trusting Matthews to take the reins... which I was unsure about.

I looked up at her and, now that Draco pointed it out to me, I realized she really did not seem herself.  I was glad to see her smiling, but not at the cost of which she went through to get her to do so.  I furrowed my brow slightly when she mentioned Pansy being interested in the remedy, though I wondered if Draco had something to do with that.  it was not like boys were allowed in the girls' dorms after all.  "Good thinking on your part," I said absentmindedly when June finished with saying something about it being extra credit for Snape's class.  I snapped out of my thoughts a little bit and shook my head.  "I think it's a good time to take a break," I said, knowing I would probably regret doing so.  The NEWTs were looming ever closer, but I wanted to get this taken care of.  I knew I would not focus on the exams if Juniper was still addicted to the remedy.

I was glad that Draco had found me.  I had no idea as to even begin looking for hiim so I had figured I would start from the outside and work my way in.  On the grounds there were less places he could be.  I turned around when I heard my name and shrugged.  "She just had this flask.  It was about this big," I said, holding up my hands to show the size.  "I didn't have much time before she caught me in her things.  I bet it was at least half full... though it may be best to think it's completely full.  Depending on why, of course."  I hoped that he would give me more insight as to why he had needed me to snoop for him.

I smiled widely up at him when he said I did good deceiving Pansy. He seemed to be the only one to think I could do something right. Something was off with him though, he always had his school stuff with him. "Since when does the great Lincoln Matthews take breaks from studying?" I asked. I hoped he wouldn't regret not studying but I remember Pansy said he had been looking for me. Maybe this would be quick and we could both do some school work. "Oh, Pansy also said you were looking for me?" I more asked then told. I looked up at him, wondering if Pansy had been lying to me about that. It didn't really matter though, Linc was here and that was all I cared about right now.

I nodded at her, glad that she had at least found out that much.  Without thinking, I took hold of Pansy's hand and continued walking down to the grounds.  Matthews always tended to be outdoors.  I hoped that I would be able to tell Matthews everything.  I was surprised that I had brought Pansy with me -- I apparently needed some help emotionally from her to deal with all of this.  I no longer had Juniper for that.  I saw matthews speaking to my sister.  "Hold on," I said, slowing down, unsure if I wanted to break that up.  Perhaps Matthews was starting to help her now.