Hello and welcome to a new story that's been bouncing around in my mind for quite some time. Let me first start off by saying that this is the first time I've made an attempt at writing for the Harry Potter fandom. I usually stick to writing for Anime fandoms, but I recently got into reading HP fics, and dear Merlin, I'm HOOKED. So, I figured I would give writing for this fandom a shot.

Be gentle with me, I'm a HP Fanfic virgin.

I decided to use my newfound love for the Harry Potter fandom to have some fun with everyone's favorite Marauders. They don't get nearly enough love. Please don't hate me if they're horrible OOC, the personalities I gave them fit the story too well not to have them this way.

Enough ranting and making excuses for myself!

I do not own Harry Potter or its Characters, just my OC and the plot to this fic.

If you enjoyed, please leave a review, favorite, and follow!

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A small groan left her lips as she felt her consciousness finally returned to her. Her transformation had been rougher than normal and she was sure that she would be feeling the after effects for weeks to come. If the smell of blood that seemed to waft across the forest floor was anything to go on, she suspected that she'd either come across an unsuspecting herd of deer, another one of her kind, of she'd torn herself to bits without realizing it. In the back of her mind, she truly hoped that the blood staining the ground beneath her was her own.

In her entire lifetime, she could only recount one time where she had actually attacked a living person. She supposed that it wasn't entirely her fault, she thought that keeping your distance from someone with her condition would have enough common sense to stay as far away as humanly possible during her nights of transformation. Apparently, people in the world still lacked common sense. Truly tragic, but she couldn't help but feel a small amount of guilt for harming a person when she had no control of herself. No matter how hard she tried to steer clear of anything living during her monthly curse, it didn't always work.

With a grunt of pain, the small woman slowly started to take account of the numerous injuries littering her small body. She wiggled her toes slowly, noting that there was no pain in the movement before carefully flexing her legs, wincing sharply when she felt jagged tears in her legs pull at the small movement.

"That's going to be a bitch to deal with.", she grunted under her breath, suddenly thankful that she was alone in the forest. While normally, one would hope someone would come looking for them after such an experience, she was different. She was grateful for the fact that nobody was forced to see her body in such a wretched state.

Slowly, she moved her left arm, noting that there was a stinging sensation at every movement, but nothing she couldn't deal with. When she tried moving her right arm, she had to bite back a sharp screech of pain as a burning pain shot up her arm like a dragons inferno. If the limb wasn't broken, she'd be surprised.

At this point, she didn't even want to know what her torso and back looked like. If the state of her limbs was anything to go by, she was sure her torso had taken quite a trashing, not that it would be something new for her to deal with. Her chest and stomach were nothing more than a patchwork of jagged scars at this point.

"Surely a few more wouldn't kill me. Granted, it's not exactly something a bloke would fancy looking at if he ever tried to get me out of my clothing.", she muttered bitterly under her breath.

Deciding that she'd spent more than enough time taking count of her injuries, the woman decided it was time to stop wasting time and drag herself back to her cabin towards the middle of the forest. Thankfully, it didn't seem like she'd wandered too far, so it wouldn't take as long as usual to get herself inside before an unsuspecting hiker came across her battered body and started raising questions. The last thing she needed was for some little Muggle to think that they've come across to scene of an attempted murder.

After was seemed like an eternity and a half, she managed to get herself into a standing position, even if she was heavily depending on a tree to keep herself upright. One way or another, she would make it back to her cozy little den. She always did.

"Come on, Crowe, it's not that far. You'll make it, you always do. Even if it's going to hurt worse than a kick to the face from a rabid Hippogriff.", she grunted under her breath.

Slowly, oh so slowly, she started putting one foot in front of the other. Using every tree she came across as a crutch to lean on, she would make it sooner or later. Pain laced up her limbs with every step she took, the bitter taste of bile in the back of her throat burned as the intensity of the pain increased every few steps.

Part of her wondered if she should have taken Dumbledore up on his offer of refuge during her monthly transformations every month, but quickly tossed the thought aside. She refused to be a burden to the man who had saved her life years ago. She didn't want to become a charity case, she didn't want to owe him more than she already did. Even if the stubborn old wizard wouldn't accept any sort of payment for his generosity .

One day, she would find a way to repay the man, and she would not take no for an answer when that day came. She didn't care how long it took, she would be free of all debts in her life, no matter the cost. If the white haired wizard were to ask her to join You Know Who and become a spy in his ranks, she would do so in a heartbeat,

She knew that he would never ask her to do such a thing, but it just showed how committed she was to the man who had spared her life. The only thing he had ever asked of her was to enroll in Hogwarts and allow herself to train herself as a witch. She'd never considered it an option with her condition, but he had insisted that she attended, so that's exactly what she did.

She vaguely remembered the day she had attacked him in blind fury during her transformation, how she had tried to rip him limb from limb. She would forever be grateful for his prowess as a wizard.

Not only had he come out of the ordeal unscathed, but he had spared her from death, even though she truly deserved to die for her deed.

After what seemed like forever, Crowe spotted her little cabin in the woods and could have wept with relief. Now she could tend to her wounds and prepare for the days to come. School would be back in session in a few days and she was expected to make an appearance, even if she tended to blend in with the furniture, rather than attempt to make friends with the people who resided in her house.

While she could be confident and brave on her own, her demenor seemed to change completely when she was in the presence of others. It seemed that she just couldn't bring herself to act like her normal self when people she didn't trust were looking at her. The only person she ever seemed to be completely comfortable with was Dumbledore and there was no way she would be able to attach herself to the hip of her Head Master all year.

She just hoped that one day, she could maybe let herself be who she was in the presence of others.

"I'm pretty sure I have some bloody form of that Muggle disease...Bi...something.", she grunted to herself before setting to work on cleaning the wounds that seemed to engulf her body.

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Days past and Crowe's injuries were healing rapidly thanks to potions and a few minor healing spells. The jagged slashes on her legs were nothing more than puckered, pink scars across her thighs and calf's, while not lovely to look at, it was better than bleeding out on the forest floor. Her right arm was wrapped in a tight bandage, keeping the bones from grinding together as they healed. She wasn't skilled enough with healing spells to fix breaks, so she would have to allow it to heal the old fashioned way, even if it was more painful. She would endure.

Her stomach hadn't fared much better than her legs, but she was grateful that it wouldn't take much to hide the claw like slashes that littered her belly and just below her breasts, she had no intention of stripping in front of anyone anytime soon, so she hadn't worried to much about the ghastly marking marring the sensitive flesh of her middle.

Her left arm was completely healed of the mauling that it had taken, scars taking up residence where the violent gashes had previously been. The hardest mark to hide, however, was the long, thin slash like scar that had appeared on the right side of her face, starting at her hairline, through her eyebrow, over her right eye, and ending at her chin. Thankfully, her long, black hair would cover the mark. She'd just have to be weary of windy days. If a gust were to blow the hair from her face, the scar would be easy to see and she really didn't feel like answering someone's nosy questions.

She had managed to keep herself out from everybody's radars thus far, and she planned on keeping that way as long as she could. She had protected her secret for years, and she preferred it that way. She was sure that if her secret were to come out, that Dumbledore would want her to leave his school and she would be forced back into absolutely isolation. She didn't mind being along, but she didn't want to risk letting down the one person who didn't sneer at her with disgust for being what she was.

Crowe was sure that, deep down, all she wanted was to be accepted for who she was, but she wasn't going to out herself and risk being hunted down and killed instead. While her life wasn't exactly glamorous, she wasn't ready to die yet.

Not until her debt to Dumbledore was repaid.

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Four days later marked the day that she was due to return to Hogwarts and Crowe couldn't help the nervousness the churned in her belly at the prospect of having to board the Hogwarts Express train. She was usually lucky enough to find a completely empty compartment to sit in, but it was the start of a new school year. The train would be packed with the next round of first years, and one could never predict how many there would be.

With any luck, it would be a smaller group than last year, but she wasn't about to get her hopes up. Not with the crowd that stood outside the train, she could feel the thought of having a quite ride back to the school slowly drifting away in the wind. Hopefully, whoever she got stuck sitting with would pretend she didn't exist.

With a sigh of frustration, Crowe straighten her black bangs over her right eye, sealing its piercing green color from the world, concealing her scar in the process. With one last sigh, she began the task of pushing her way towards the train through the crowd.

After some pushing and shoving, she finally managed to board the train and headed to the first empty compartment that she could find and quickly shut the door behind her, hoping outsiders would get the hint that she wanted to be alone.

She pulled a book of Dark Creatures out of her trunk and set in on the seat before shoving her trunk onto the shelving above her. Once she was sure that the blasted thing wouldn't fall on her head once the train started moving, she cracked her book open and did her best to forget that the rest of the world existed around her.

After a few minutes, Crowe lost herself in the book in her lap, and failed to hear the sound of the door to her compartment opening and the loud voices of the students entering that came with it. She was startled out of her reading when she heard someone address her and mentally flinched at the sound of someone speaking to her.

"Oi, are you even listening to me?", came to voice of a bloke who seemed to be about her age. Dark, shaggy hair fell in a tousled sort of manner over his forehead and round glasses adorned his face. Other than that, Crowe didn't see anything noteworthy about him.

"I don't think she likes you much, Prongs.", snickered the male standing directly behind him. Crowe couldn't see his face, but she could tell by his accent that he probably grew up in a posh, Pureblood family. She had to bite back a snort at his comment toward his friend, he wasn't exactly wrong, but he wasn't right either.

"Stuff it, Padfoot. This is the only compartment that isn't completely packed and actually has room for three more people.", the one called Prongs snapped.

Before the one called Padfoot could come back with a retort, a third person shouldered their way between the two boys. The first thing that Crowe noticed, was that his eyes seemed to be a few shades darker than her own shade of green. Loose, sandy blonde curls fell over his forehead and she couldn't help but notice the small scars that adorned his knuckles and the backs of his hands.

"I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, but would you mind if we joined you? There don't seem to be any other open compartments that have enough room for three more people.", the blonde boy asked with a small smile.

Crowe mulled over his question for a moment before opening her mouth to answered his question, but quickly thought better of it and snapped her mouth closed with an audible click. She made a gesture with her hand that signaled them to do as they wished before she returned her focus to the book in her lap. So much so a quite ride back to the school. She didn't even notice the small nod of thanks she received from the blonde before he gestured for his friends to step into the compartment.

Crowe heard the door to the compartment snap shut and she couldn't help but tense slightly at the sound. She preferred her solitude, she wasn't used to having company on the train and it wasn't exactly something she was comfortable with. But she had already given them her consent to enter, and she didn't have any plans of speaking to any of them.

People who wanted to be alone, did not speak to those they were unfamiliar with. She knew she should recognize the trio across from her, but she kept drawing blanks. They looked familiar, but she couldn't name the faces she'd seen. She chanced a glance up from her book but faltered when she saw two pairs of eyes boring into her as if they were trying to suck out her soul like they were some kind of deranged Dementor. Belatedly, she realized that the blonde was not sitting next to them and she slowly looked to her right and found that he had taken a seat next to her.

She tried not to flinch at the close proximity, but failed terribly. There was no way that any of the males in her small room hadn't noticed her reaction to someone being so close to her.

She snapped out of her inner turmoil when she heard the voice of the one called Padfoot pipe up from in front of her.

"Don't tell me you're scared of old Moony!", he crowed, his gray eyes dancing with humor, his lips drawn back in a cocky smirk that Crowe suddenly wanted to hex off his face.

"Ignore him, he's a prick.", snorted Prongs.

"Better yet, ignore both of them, they're both idiots.", Moony muttered softly under his breath.

Crowe couldn't help the small smile that creeped across her lips at the banter between the three males. Part of her wished that she could get over her irrational fear of speaking to people and join in the banter, but she quickly shut the thoughts swirling in her mind down. If they were to find out what kind of monster she truly was, they would surely scorn her and inform the school of her abnormality.

With that thought in mind, she quickly let the smile on her lips drop from her face. She resisted the urge to sigh, oh how wonderful it would be to be normal. Even if it was only for a moment, it would be worth it. She knew such wishful thinking was pointless. There was no cure, and there never would be. She would be stuck being the monster that she was until the day she died.

Part of her wondered hat It would be like to meet someone with the same curse as herself, but quickly shook the thought from her mind. She knew that people with her condition were always prideful and looked down on those who were ashamed. No, she wouldn't even be accepted by her own kind.

Maybe she was truly better off alone.

She was soon brought out of her thoughts when she felt someone nudge her shoulder. It took every ounce of willpower that she had not to flinch at the innocent touch. She turned her head slightly to regard to boy next to her and raised her only visible eyebrow at him in question, not willing to verbally respond.

"I can practically hear the gears turning in your head, are you sure you're alright?", Moony asked innocently, worry glinting in his deep, green eyes.

Crowe cringed at the question, she really wasn't okay, but she didn't know how to respond to his innocent question. She couldn't blame him for being curious, it wasn't as if she was doing a very good job of hiding her discomfort from the three strange boys that shared her compartment. Part of her wondered if it would be easier to just open her mouth and respond to his question. But part of her was scared of the possibility of them having a bad reaction to her being completely uneasy about having people she didn't know anywhere near her.

They had been nothing but kind to her in the short while she had been near them and knew that they didn't deserve the silent treatment she was giving them. With a sigh, she turned her head completely towards the boy and sighed.

"I'm sorry if I'm coming off as cold towards you, it has nothing to do with you. I'm not accustomed to people actually awknowleding my existence. It's a rather different feeling, not blending in with the furtiture and being left to my own devices.", she shrugged with a small, forced smile. She really hoped that she wouldn't regret her decision to speak to the boy next to her.

"That's what you were worried about? I figured you'd heard about our reputations and were waiting for us to pull some kind of prank on you, honestly.", she heard Padfoot snicker, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

"To be completely honest with you, I've never heard of any of you.", she responded with a small shrug of her shoulders. "I've kept to myself the entire time that I've attended Hogwarts and I figured it would be like that until the day I graduated.", she admitted as an afterthought.

She was a little surprised with herself, she'd never been able to hold a conversation with a person for more than a few seconds before she practically fled the scene with her tail between her legs. She couldn't help but admit that it was a nice change of pace.

"You've never heard of us?! The nerve!", Prones exclaimed in mock offense, a grin playing on his lips.

"Ignore him, his ego is bigger that those hideous glasses on his face.", Padfoot grinned, only to yelp in pain a moment later when his friend's elbow made contact with his ribs.

"I feel like introductions are in order then, seeing as none of us know your name and you don't know ours.", Moony suggested with a small shrug of his shoulders.

"Splendid idea, Moony dearest!", Padfoot cooed with a waggle of his eyebrows.

"Well, I'm James Potter, a pleasure.", the boy previously known as Prongs grinned.

"Sirius Black.", Padfoot smirked, his eyebrow raising in confusion when he received nothing but a nod from the black haired girl in front of him. He was quite used to people flinching away from him at the mention of his surname, but this girl acted like it was nothing more than the name of a color. He had to admit, it felt rather nice.

"And I'm Remus Lupin, nice to meet you.", Moony said kindly with a small smile.

"Crowe, no surname, sorry.", Crowe said, a small, sad smile playing at her lips. She'd long forgotten what her surname was and never bothered to give herself a new one.

"How can you not have a surname, that's absurd! You have a family don't you?", James asked bluntly, not even noticing the small flinch that came from the girl across from him.

"Wow, James, insensitive much?", Remus barked, a frown marring his features. He knew that his friends had a perchant for not having a filter, but Merlin's bollocks, how rude could one be?!

"Low blow, Prongs.", Sirius grunted with a shake of his head.

Crowe lowered her head, shame burning across her cheeks. Maybe this was a bad idea after all.

"Don't listen to him, little bird. He's just a jackass with no social skills. Not everyone needs a surname. Whatever the reason for you not having one is, I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason for it.", Sirius said gently with a small, sad smile.

Remus was rather shocked at the kindness that had seeped into his rogish friend's voice. Normally, Sirius could be just as blind and insensitive as James. It seemed that the summer had allowed his troubled friend to mature just a little.

"He's right, you know. We all have our troubles and secrets.", Remus assured the quiet girl next to him. He resisted the urge to sigh in relief when he saw the tenseness in her shoulders relax at his words.

I've got it!", James suddenly exclaimed, startling the other three occupants of the compartment at his sudden excitement.

Hadn't they scolded him into submission just moments ago?

"Oh, this should be good.", Remus and Sirius groaned in unison with a roll of their eyes.

"If you two would stuff it for half a second, I'd tell you what my brilliant mind just came up with!", James pouted, his arms crossing over his chest.

"I wouldn't call your mind brilliant, James. You can't even sac up and talk to Evans without wetting yourself.", Sirius snorted before practically throwing himself in Remus and Crowe's laps in order to dodge his friend's elbow from making contact with him a second time.

For a split second, Crowe and Remus made eye contact and after a moment, they both nodded to each other. Slowly, they turned their heads towards the black haired boy in their laps and simultaneously pushed him off of them and back into his seat.

"Traitors, the lot of you.", Sirius muttered under his breath.

Crowe and Remus just sighed at the boys antics, not even acknowledging the fact that the dark haired girl hadn't flinched at Sirius' touching her.

"And just what is this 'brilliant' idea you have, James?", Remus sighed, knowing that he was probably going to regret asking.

"Depends, do you want to hear my idea, little bird?", James grinned, completely ignoring the glare he received from Sirius for stealing his nickname for the quiet girl across from them.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to hear what you have to say.", she sighed with a small shake of her head. She couldn't help but think that she was going to regret this.

"We, the amazing Marauders, are going to give you a surname!", James exclaimed, looking rather proud of himself.

"Seriously, that's your big plan?", Sirius deadpanned.

"That's not nearly as horrifying as I was expecting.", Remus admitted reluctantly.

"Love you too, Moony."

"I have to agree with Remus, honestly.", Crowe replied shyly.

"You wound me, little bird!"

"Would you stuff it and enlighten us as to what you think a good surname would be for her?", Sirius grunted, suddenly wishing that he had the bollocks to jump out the train window to escape the sudden insanity. It wasn't that far of a drop to the ground. A few hundred feet wasn't too horrible, was it?

"Remus is the genius here, not me. You name her!", James whined.

"I'm not a dog, you know.", Crowe sighed, but was completely ignored.

"Leave it to you to think of an idea, but have no idea on how to execute it.", Remus grunted.

Sirius stared longingly out the train window, completely wrapped up in thoughts of trying to turn himself into the first half human, half Hippogriff.

"I think it would be wise to ask Crowe for her opinion on the matter before we start spouting off names to give her.", Remus suggested, not wanting to have to contribute to the brand of insanity that his friend was trying to subject him to.

"I don't have a problem with it.", Crowe shrugged. She was quickly becoming quite comfortable in the three boys' presence and if giving her a surname was the only thing they wanted to do to her, she wasn't about to argue with it. It wasn't as if they were trying to get her to spill her deepest, darkest secrets. Part of her reveled in the fact that she was having a civil conversation with people her age.

But another part of her reared its ugly head and quickly reminded her that if they found out that she was truly a monster, they would leave her in an instant. Not wanting to deal with such thoughts right then, she quickly banished the thoughts from her head. There was no way she was going to allow her self doubt ruin the first real conversation she'd had in a long time. Even if the comfort she was feeling was destined to be short lived, she would revel in it as long as she was able to.

"Any ideas, Sirius?", James asked, nudging his friend with his shoulder. When he received no response, he shrugged and turned his attention back to the duo across from him. "Remus, it's all up to you, lad.", he sighed.

"Give me a moment, I'm thinking.", the blonde male grunted, pinching the bridge of his nose as he concentrated.

After what seemed like an eternity, Remus snapped his fingers and smirked triumphantly.

"Think of a good one, Moony?", James asked excitedly.

"Don't keep us in suspense now, mate.", Sirius grinned, having snapped himself out of his admittedly disturbing daydreams.

"I admit, I'm rather curious to see what you decided on.", Crowe admitted timidly.

"From this day forth, you're Crowe of the Marauders.", Remus smirked.

"The bloody hell is that supposed to mean?", James asked, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

"What it means, is that she doesn't need a surname to define her. She has us now, and we'll be the family she needs.", Remus smirked, clearly proud of himself.

"That's actually not a bad idea, honestly.", Sirius nodded firmly, stroking his chin as if he was running his fingers through the beard he knew he'd probably never have until his mid thirties.

"As much as I hate stroking that damned ego of yours, Moony, that's not a bad idea at all.", James sighed.

"What exactly is a Marauder?", Crowe asked, confusion lacing her tone.

"That would be the three of us, of course! We prank people at school and take care of each other. Welcome to the family, Little Bird.", Sirius grinned.

The word family echoed through Crowe's mind, and she couldn't help the genuine smile that made its way across her lips at the thought of finally having some semblance of a family to call her own. If they wanted her as part of their little family, she wouldn't refuse. As long as they wanted her around, she would stay.

Okay, so the first chapter ended up being a lot longer than I expected it to be. But then again, I'm working an overnight right now at work and I have literally nothing else to do.

What do you, the people think? Is it worth continuing or should I scrap it while I'm still ahead?

I can't promise that updates will be this long in the future, but I'll try my damndest.

Anyway...

Leave a review, favorite, and follow if you enjoyed!

Until Next Time!