A Change of Plans

Chapter One

"HE--IS--NOT--DEAD!" Annie-Elizabeth shouted as she slipped across the dining room floor in her socks to answer the doorbell.

"Very funny. Who's there?" Her friend, Patricia Dore, called down the stairs, leaning over the banister.

"Probably just another one of Mom's dates," Annie sighed, then she allowed an evil grin to slink into her features. "She's not ready yet, so we can have some fun--I mean, we can get to know him a little."

The evil glint in her eyes became brighter.

"Fun," Patricia commented, joining her friend at the door. "Same as last, or should we get a little creative?"

"Creative, definitely."

"Okay. How's this: I'm your long lost sister from Bermuda?"

"No, too unbelievable. How about...Oh, perfect timing! The last guy just left!"

Patricia had to bite her lip to keep from giggling as Annie pulled the door open.

"Hello, Annie-Elizabeth."

The man who stood just outside the door had longish black hair. He was facing Patricia.

"I'm not Annie-Elizabeth," she managed to say with a straight face. She pointed at her friend. "That's the one you're looking for."

"Oh," The stranger looked a little embarrassed. He turned to the real Annie. "Well, nice to meet you."

Annie couldn't help it. She giggled.

"You might as well be warned, sir, that Annie's a real joker. The one you want is over there" She pointed her own finger at Patricia, who unconvincingly shook her head and tutted.

"What a silly girl, don't you agree?" Patricia said seriously to the man. "Annie is over there"

"You liar!" Annie exclaimed theatrically, her face contorted into mock-outrage. "Can you believe her?" She too turned to the man, who was grinning. "She is being so difficult!"

"Well--" Patricia started, but the man cut her off.

"Enough, enough!" he laughed. He turned to the real Annie-Elisabeth and put out his hand to shake. Annie took it in surprise. Then he turned to Patricia.

"And you must be her dear friend, Patricia Dore."

"Call me Patsy," she told him, shaking his hand too. Her eyes were still widened in surprise.

"Girls!" A woman's voice came from up the stairs. Annie's mother appeared at the stairway landing and glided gracefully down the stairs and to the door by the girls. She smiled at the man. "Oh, Sirus, how nice to see you!" (A/N NO, his name is NOT spelled wrong!) She gave him a peck on the cheek. "I hope the girls weren't giving you any trouble."

The girls in question were behind the woman's back, making gagging and vomiting motions. The man smiled and chuckled.

"No, Eugene, not at all."

"Oh, well, that's alright then. You see, they enjoy trying to throw off men that come to the door by trickery." She looked concernedly at the girls.

"And might I say, they are very good at it" He bowed. "Shall we?"

Eugene blushed and nodded.

"Yes, we shall. Annie?" She turned to the red head beside her. "You're sleeping over at Patsy's tonight. We're coming home late, and I don't want to be upset by some prank or another."

"Sure, Mom, whatever," Annie said, but under her breath she added, "At least I'm not the one cheating on my dead husband."

"What was that dear?"

"Nothing."

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"I can't believe her," Annie burst out for the millionth time. She was cramming some pajamas and a change of clothes into an old backpack; Patsy was sitting on the bed watching her.

"I know," Patsy reassured her, or tried to. At this point, Annie-Elizabeth was just about beyond consolation. "You know, you don't really need to pack all this stuff. You've got just about a complete wardrobe at my house" Annie acted as though she had not heard her friend.

"I mean, it just--makes--no--bloody--sense!" Though not British, the girls had picked up these phrases (bloody, rubbish, git, and such) from the Harry Potter books they so loved and had just about memorized. "Dad died only just a year ago, and she's already gone out with about fifty guys!"

"Thirty-eight," Patsy, who had just about a photographic memory and kept track of such things, said without thinking. "And it's been over a year, Annie."

"Who cares? She didn't even wait six months until she started going out with other guys. Does she even care?"

"Well," Patsy got up and started helping with the packing, "She sure cared about that bucket of water we balanced over the door on her last night out."

"The oldest trick in the book! And she didn't even see it coming!" Annie, still angry, practically shouted. "And this new guy, Sirus Blake, she sure seems to like him. And he saw right through the 'no, that's Annie, no that's Annie' thing. We're going to work on this one; no cheap tricks are going to get rid of him."

Patsy pursed her lips, thinking.

"Sirus Blake, Sirius Black..." she mused, "You know, that guy did have long black hair..."

Annie threw a pillow at her.

"Sure!" she said, trying to stay angry but the corners of her mouth tilting upward all the same, "This new guy is Sirius Black. Yeah, that's real possible, Pats, real possible."

Patsy threw her arms up in mock defeat.

"Just a suggestion, just a suggestion!" she cried, wincing as another pillow sailed her way. She grabbed this one and flung it back. "It would be cool, though"

"Come back to earth, will you?" Annie joked, catching the pillow and aiming it at Patsy's head. "Sirius Black is dead."

Patsy smirked as she flung yet another pillow at her friend.

"HE--IS--NOT--DEAD!"

Annie burst out laughing; Patsy joined her. Both had to sit down, and the pillow-throwing exercise was abandoned. Soon they were quoting Harry Potter back and forth.

"'Not Harry, please, not Harry!'" Annie exclaimed, jumping up and spreading out her arms as if she were shielding something behind her. Patsy grinned, and jumped up as well, advancing on 'Lily' with her hand held before her as if it held a wand.

"'Stand aside, you silly girl, stand aside, now!'" she cried, adapting a deep, rasping voice that was unlike her own. The performance would've been frightening if it wasn't punctuated with giggles.

"'Not Harry! Please...have mercy...have mercy...'"

The show ended, due to the fact that the girls were now laughing so hard it was difficult to stay standing.

Their laughter was cut off quite suddenly by the sound of a car pulling into the driveway. Annie turned pale; she knew who it was.

"Oh, shit!" she rasped. "They're here!"

She did not know what they were planning to do in the 'empty' house, and didn't plan on finding out.

"Great," Patsy muttered, grabbing Annie's bag and opening the back window. "We've got to get to my place."

She tossed the bag down the two stories to the ground below, then lowered herself onto the flat stretch of roof below it.

"C'mon!" she hissed. "Hurry up!"

Annie followed, and both slid down the drainpipe. After landing--as softly as possible--on the ground below, they grabbed the bag and ran to the house next door. Patsy dug a key from her pocket and fit it in the lock.

"Made it," she muttered as the door swung open to the warmly lit house. Dumping shoes and bags at the door, the girls ran up to Patsy's room.

"God, you know how close that was?" Annie gasped as soon as the door was closed.

"I honestly do not want to think about it," Patsy panted, collapsing on her bed. When she had enough energy, she sat up and added thoughtfully, "I wonder what they were doing back so early."

"Don't know" Annie shuddered. "And I don't want to find out."