EXERCISE #: 13
TITLE: The next day
AUTHOR: Lala
CHARACTERS: Percy, Penny, Madam Pomfery, and Penny's cousin Mary.
SUMMARY: Diary of Mary Clearwater
DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of this. It's all either JKR's or WB's.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a continuation of the New Year's exercise I did. I also posted the exercise on FanFiction and this is going to be the first part of the second chapter, although I will probablly rewrite some things before I'm done. I also want to say than some parts are random because it is my experience journals are rather haphazard.
DATE OF FIC: 3-22-02

Dear Diary,

I am so humiliated and I have no intentions to leave this bathroom ever again. I still can't believe it happened and, as much as I want to blame Penny, it's really my fault for letting her talk me into it. Even if she is the most persuasive person ever . One of these days I am going to learn how to say no...and mean it.

It's hard though because my cousin's enthusiasm is extremely contagious. Sometimes I forget that, even if she doesn't care what other people think, I do.

It all started when Penelope decided to awaken the rest of us by playing the Wireless, a wizard equivalent of a radio, really loudly in the kitchen while making breakfast.

We - Percy, Penny, Miss Poppy, and I - all slept in the living room last night because Penny found out that neither Percy nor Miss Poppy had ever experienced your traditional 'sleep over'. Penny absolutely insisted we all slumber in the same room and tell stupid stories, and do all sorts of ridiculous childish things. Actually, that part was fun. And Percy and Miss Poppy were very good sports about everything.

Their willingness to act foolish last night was part of the reason I consented this morning. Penny came dancing out of the kitchen acting like a fool. She was using a spatula as a microphone and moving around the room, hopping on furniture and doing a jig. It was really quite funny, and there is no better way to wake up than to do so with laughter. Miss Poppy and I both woke up right away and were already giggling.

Percy, who was sleeping flat on his back with no pillow (how odd!), just opened his eyes. He closed them again and groaned. I noticed he's been overly tired since I got here shortly after Christmas and when I mentioned it to Penny, she just blew it off and said, "He gets like that every year about this time."

Anyway, once Penny noticed that there was one member of her audience who was displeased by her show, she sat out to win him over...in her typical Penny-ish way. Meaning she pestered him by grabbing his hand and holding it to her heart while she sang the words into his eyes. I don't know how Percy maintained a straight face when she got on her knees beside him and flared both arms out wide when the singer hit the high notes. I certainly couldn't have. But then right at the end, when Penny got nose to nose with him to mouth the finale, he burst into a ear to ear smile.

Man, let me tell you, if a guy ever looked at me like that I'd probably fall head over heals. Sometimes when he looks at her, I loose my breath. I guess Penny must have too, because I saw her physically shake herself. Then she looked over at me and utters the words of my downfall.

"Mary, it's your turn."

I didn't want to. But they all insisted. (I'm skipping over the details here because I don't think I can actually put them into words. It would be too embarassing.) Let's just say, I was in a very humiliating position with the spatula when I noticed someone standing in the doorway. I recognized him immediately as Percy's brother George from the incident last night. (I'll write about that later.)

Anyway, the first words he said to me were, "I saw you laughing at the way those witches last night were dancing. Maybe instead you should have been learning."

I know. That jerk! And Penny only made it worse because she started laughing. Miss Poppy just gasped. Percy come to my defense (I knew I liked him), but I'm clueless to what he said because I left the room and came to hideout in the bathroom.

I wonder what's going on out...

Bang. Bang. Bang.