Hello dearest readers! This story is a re-write of my very first chapter-fic (formerly called The Marauders: Broomsticks and Fairytales). I was very young and new to writing when I first wrote it, but I do like the story line so I am posting it here after an extensive re-write. I hope you enjoy this re-write.
Rose Wilson looked around at the corridor in which she stood. The castle was magnificent, of course - the Grand Hall had left her speechless - but at the same time it seemed strangely comforting. Rose found that reassuring, since starting new at Hogwarts as a fifth year student was rather intimidating, especially for a shy foreign student who had never attended a magic school before. As she gazed at the elaborate mahogany door she was soon expected to enter, she wondered, not for the first time, how the other students would react to her. She had been told it was very rare for students to be accepted into the school at her age. Students always started at Hogwarts from first year. However the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, was an unusually kind man and saw no reason why she should not be allowed entrance into a later year level. Still, she could not help but worry about how she would fit in - no doubt tight friendship groups were already well established.
Rose took a deep breath before she turned towards the door of her first class, her hand outstretched as she reached for the handle, she heard a rather stern voice of a woman shout out.
"Mr Potter, Mr Black, for the last time, pay attention! 10 points from Gryffindor - no, Mr Potter, I do not care that it's the first day of term."
Rose hesitated for a moment, and thought it best that she gave the woman time to calm down before entering the class, while making a mental note that this seemed like the kind of teacher it was unwise to cross. At length, Rose knocked on the door, her hand shaking.
"Enter," came a voice from inside.
Rose opened the door and walked into the classroom. She looked around the room and found a class of eight students staring at her. She timidly turned towards the Professor, who, to her relief, was smiling.
"Good morning, I take it that you are Rose Wilson?" she asked kindly.
"Yes, Professor," she replied. "Er, I'm sorry I'm late. I got lost after my meeting with Professor Dumbledore."
"That is perfectly fine, Miss Wilson. I am Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor house, " she replied. She turned to face the rest of the class and announced, "This is Miss Rose Wilson, a new addition to our Gryffindor fifth year class. Her family moved her from Australia last month, and she will be continuing her education at Hogwarts. I expect that each and every one of you will make her feel most welcome."
Looking around at the students, Rose noticed a handsome boy reclining comfortably in his chair, looking perfectly at ease. Much to her embarrassment, he winked at her, and a messy haired boy seated next to him grinned broadly at his friends daring. Rose blushed and hastily looked away. She made eye contact with a friendly faced girl with green eyes and red hair. She smiled at her, and Rose smiled back. She felt herself feeling slightly more comfortable.
"Well, Miss Wilson, if you would kindly take a seat. There is only one spare, just over there next to Mr Black, if you don't mind."
Rose looked in the direction the Professor had pointed, and was disappointed to see her referring to the boy who had winked at her. Rose walked over to the seat and slowly sat down, while he turned towards her, and much to her relief, did not wink this time, but offered his hand. After shaking hands, he whispered to her, "Sirius Black."
Professor McGonagall resumed the class, and Sirius turned to face her. Rose was too nervous to focus and instead found herself examining her fellow students. The class, she knew, was made up of only the Gryffindor students.
She glanced at the boy sitting next to Sirius. He had black hair and dark brown eyes. Looking at his book, Rose saw that his name was James Potter. Rose remembered that it had been at him and Sirius that Professor McGonagall had yelled at when she was still outside. Smiling to herself, Rose predicted that the two must be the class trouble makers. As she watched him, she noticed that he had a habit of running his fingers through his messy hair and looking over at the girl with green eyes and red hair, who seemed to be oblivious to his attempts to catch her eye. She was busy listening to Professor McGonagall explain the upcoming OWL exams with rapt attention. In fact, Rose noticed, most of the class seemed to be wearing worried expressions at what Professor McGonagall was explaining, and Rose realised it was probably best for her to listen as well.
Before Rose even had time to put her books away at the end of the class, Sirius turned towards her and said, rather loudly, "So. We've never had new students above first year before."
Acutely aware that most of the class was now listening, Rose awkwardly replied, "My family moved here from Australia for my dad's work."
"Australia? Did you go to school there?" James asked, curiously.
"There are no magic schools in Australia, James," said the red haired girl before Rose could reply. She smiled kindly at Rose and said, "Welcome to Hogwarts. I'm Lily Evans."
"Thank you," Rose replied, and she was introduced to the rest of the girls - Mary Macdonald (a short, kind faced girl with long black hair), Norma Prewett (who also had red hair) and Astrid Doge (a tall brunette who Rose thought was strikingly pretty) - who she would be sharing a dorm with.
They were joined by two other boys, and the taller of the two, a nice looking boy with brown hair said, "I'm Remus Lupin and this is Peter Pettigrew."
Rose looked at Peter, a short boy with a round face, who avoided looking at her and fidgeted with his bag instead. She thought he seemed rather shy. Unfortunately, Sirius seemed to have noticed this as well.
"Oh don't be so shy, Peter!"
Peter blushed, mumbled a hurried "hi", and stepped back into the shadows.
"Peter is rather shy around pretty girls," James said in a rather loud whisper. This time, it was Rose who blushed.
"Leave him alone, Potter!" snapped Lily. "Not everyone is as confident as you and Sirius."
"Do you think I'm confident, Evans? Is that something you like about me?" replied James, smirking at Lily. She rolled her eyes at him in reply.
Rose was surprised at this question, and the confusion must have shown on her face, because Mary, laughing, said:
"You'll get used to it Rose. James Potter is crazy about Lily, but she can't stand him."
Sirius smirked, while James, looking annoyed said, "Like we don't all know you are obsessed with Sirius."
Mary looked mortified and, thinking that this conversation was getting out of hand, Rose quickly cut in -
"Shouldn't we be heading off to the next class?"
"Looks like we have ourselves a peace keeper,' Sirius said, still smirking. "Watch out Remus, you might be out of a job."
"With all the trouble you and James get up to, I think I could use a helping hand," Remus replied warily, offering a small smile to Rose.
Rose smiled back as she followed the others to the next class. She couldn't help but notice that Remus had a lovely smile, and though he was not as handsome as Sirius, he had a special charm of his own.
It wasn't until the following day that Rose started to feel comfortable around her new classmates. Lily and Mary took her under their wing, and boys were rather fun, even if Lily avoided them as much as possible. With her nerves finally settled, Rose was eager to learn more about her new friends.
She was sitting with Lily and Mary for lunch, while Sirius, James, Remus and Peter sat across them. Lily had protested when the boys had sat next to them, but she couldn't argue when Sirius pointed out that they wanted to befriend Rose too. Rose was not sure how true this was - she strongly suspected that it was an excuse for James to sit with Lily.
Lily turned her attention back to Rose, and asked about her life back in Australia.
"Well," she said, lowering her fork back to her plate, "like you said, there aren't any magic schools in Australia. The magically community is very small. One of the reasons I was so excited about coming to Britain was the large magical community."
"But how did you learn to control your magic?" asked Remus.
"I was home schooled. My parents started teaching me magic when I was seven, based on the Hogwarts syllabus."
"Seven?" exclaimed Remus. James and Sirius both seemed to have choked on their soup and Remus slapped them both across the back.
"What?" Rose asked, confused.
"Isn't it illegal?" asked Mary. "We can't use a wand outside of Hogwarts until we are 17!"
"Oh. Well, we don't have a proper Ministry of Magic, so it is expected that the parents use their judgement on these matters."
"Imagine the trouble we could have caused, Sirius," said James. "What a shame."
"I hate to say it, James," said Sirius, "but I think we get into enough trouble as it is."
Lily, pointedly ignoring James, turned back to Rose.
"Are your parents both magical, Rose?"
"Yes. Are yours?"
"No, I'm Muggle born. So is Mary. Remus is half blood but James, Sirius and Peter are pure blood too."
"Oh, I'm not a pure blood though," said Rose. The words left her lips before she even realize what she had said.
"Aren't your parents both magical?" asked James, looking confused.
Rose felt a blush creeping up her neck. She was not ready to share her unusual ancestry just yet. She knew it was nothing to be ashamed of, but Rose didn't want to be seen as different, especially not on her second day of school.
"Oh, yes but my dad's dad was a muggle," she mumbled. Her blush deepened - she felt terrible lying to her new friends.
"Well I guess that would technically make you are half blood. Like me," said Remus. "There's nothing wrong with that. None of us care about blood status, Rose."
He had obviously assumed that her hesitation was related to her blood status. She gave him an awkward smile; he smiled shyly back and looked away.
"That's right," said James, "Look at Lily - she's better at potions than most of the pure bloods here," he added, before winking suggestively at Lily.
"And Potter is so thick that I've wondered whether he is part-troll," Lily said sharply.
As James and Lily continued their bickering, Rose sighed in relief as the topic moved away from her heritage, and allowed herself to enjoy the company of her new friends.
AN - Thanks for reading! Reviews are very much appreciated.