Chapter 1 (This is basically an "introduction", just to establish characters and such. Enjoy!)

I'm Dorcas Raenora Meadowes (hell of a name, huh? I go by 'Rae'), and I'm a ghost.

I wasn't always a ghost (obviously). I've been a not-so-proud member of the dead for 17 years. I was 18 when I snuffed it, so I guess I'm 35 now. I mean, if I was alive I would be. Seems the dead don't age much - well, actually, not at all.

17 lonely years have made me question the decision I made that October night in 1978, the decision that keeps me trapped inside this pale shadow of my 18-year-old self. I try not to think about the centuries that lie ahead. Truth is, being dead isn't much fun. It's especially horrible if you're too afraid (ashamed) to show yourself to your old friends. Watching them grow up, get new jobs, houses, families...even die.

But of course James and Lily didn't stay earthbound to keep me company. No, they chose the honorable path - whatever lies after death, that is. I wouldn't know. I was too afraid. Well, I had unfinished business, not that that excuses my cowardice. Sometimes I wonder how a Gryffindor can fail so miserably when courage is required. Oh well, I can't mope forever.

Wait, actually I can. Super.

But anyway, I want to tell you my story. I'll start during my 7th year at Hogwarts. If I remember correctly (and I do), that was the year I chopped off my hair with a Severing Charm. Not the wisest fashion choice of my life, but it seems like a good place to start.

I was 17, average height and weight, with long, shiny tresses of wavy black hair, accented with just a hint of natural red, and sparkling blue-green-orange eyes.

Heh heh, I wish. Really, I had an unruly mane of wavy blond hair and pale grey eyes that I was horribly self-conscious about. An oblivious, hormone-ridden, occasionally spotty, depressingly ordinary adolescent. I had no idea I would be dead a little more than a year...

Peeling myself away from my hysterical mother ("You never write!"), I wheeled my trolley casually up to the gate of Platform 9 and 3/4. I tried to subtly slip through the barrier, but tripped over my foot and fell onto my trolley. Fortunately my weight rolled it through the barrier, and I recovered, looking around the crowded platform. Thank the gods no one had seen my entrance!

"Very graceful, Meadowes."

"Swanlike."

Crap.

I turned to find the grinning faces of Gryffindor's finest, James Potter and Sirius Black, the latter of whom gave me a delicious wink.

Double crap.

I felt heat creeping up my face (I'm sure I was a lovely shade of crimson) and tried to look as though I'd meant to fall onto the platform. I doubt it worked.

"Black, Potter, nice to see you. How were your holidays?"

Sirius grinned. "Smashing. Literally." I didn't doubt it. Just then I heard familiar voices.

"Dorcas!"

Come on, did they really have to use my first name?

"Why are you all standing by the barrier?" Lily Evans asked suspiciously, leading Venus and Bridget over. "Are you planning something?"

Leave it to Lily to be suspicious of people standing by barriers. (Although it was James and Sirius.) She looked great, though, freckly and even a little tan. At her arrival, James stuck his hand in his already messy hair and grinned goofily.

Alice Budger, Lily's and my roommate, smiled shyly at everyone and murmured greetings. Marlene McKinnon, another roommate, rolled her eyes at James and sauntered up to Sirius, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him rather violently. They'd been dating since exam time last year.

I looked away, not to give them privacy (neither Marlene nor Sirius had a reputation for modesty) but because, to tell the truth, I was a little jealous. Okay, a lot jealous.

Anyway, we eventually dragged Marlene onto the train and in a compartment, which was where I made the fateful decision to cut my hair. Er, chop my hair. Marlene had brought me a potion for curly hair ("Defines and adds volume!") and I decided I'd try it to humor her. I think she was trying to make me into a fashion project.

Anyway, I squeezed some of the glop into my hair. All it really accomplished was to stick my frizzy waves together into clumpy super-waves. Attractive.

Marlene grimaced. "Well, that's okay. Daddy bought it for me in Paris. I don't know why, he must think I have curly hair or something."

She fingered her straight, white-blond hair casually, but I knew she cared about her father's cluelessness. Alice piped up, ever the optimist:

"I hear short hair is in now anyway, Rae."

"Fine then, I'll cut it!" I growled. Thinking about my hair always made me grumpy. Before Marlene could react, I pulled out my wand, yanked my hair up over my head, and gave it an O-level Severing Charm (wish I could have done that during OWLs!).

It fell around my face in ear-length, uneven and unflattering layers. Lily and Alice were too shocked to say anything, but Marlene's face turned purple and she opened her mouth, no doubt to berate me for crimes against fashion.

Then, (just my luck), Sirius, James and their friends Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew chose this moment to walk in. While Remus and Peter kept their composure at the sight of my new look, James and Sirius decided to show their support by snickering, pointing, and making snide comments, while standing right in the middle of the corridor. Of course, a fairly long line of people trying to pass by were now peering curiously into our compartment. To say I wanted to disappear would be an understatement.

After a few minutes of this torture, James turned to Lily and said in as deep a voice as he could manage,

"We've got to go, Evans. Head duties."

I think my jaw hit the floor. I knew Lily would get Head Girl, but James Potter? The annoying, trouble-making, cocky James Potter? Maybe Dumbledore was getting senile!

Lily was as surprised as the rest of us, but she held it in and left with James, throwing us a "this-really-sucks" look over her shoulder. Sirius waved Remus and Peter on and took Lily's place next to Marlene. They immediately began snogging ferociously.

Brilliant.

At least Marlene couldn't say anything about my hair. Alice grabbed a magazine out of her cloak and disappeared behind it, leaving me more than a little uncomfortable. I spent the rest of that ride staring out the darkening window, feeling sorry for myself. My seventh and final year was getting off to a lovely start - not!

After what felt like a hundred lifetimes, we were seated at the Gryffindor table, zoning out as the new students were Sorted. I think I had actually begun to drool until a loud smacking sound told me that Marlene and Sirius had finally separated. I looked up to see what had caused this monumental event and found Sirius and his three friends huddled together, talking in low, excited voices. This could only mean one thing - prank.

Lily raised her eyebrows at us and Alice looked worried, but to tell the truth, I was a little excited (I'm not really sure what Marlene thought, as she was staring into space wearing a dazed look - probably from lack of oxygen). At any rate, it was nothing out of the ordinary for the four Marauders. Lily took this opportunity to nudge Marlene sharply.

"Snap out of it! What in the world is wrong with you, Marlene?"

"Nothing, I'm just tired," she replied, but the dreamy look in her eyes said otherwise.

"Don't tell me you're starting to fall for him!" Alice gasped, eyes wide.

"Don't be silly, Al, he's just fun...I'm not stupid, you know..."

I rolled my eyes at her. "Sure, you say that now, but you're not the first girl to succumb to the "Sirius Charm"."

Lily looked concerned. "Just be careful, OK? You know how he is, he's just as bad as Potter!"

Marlene was miffed by our meddling. "Whatever, Lily...I know what I'm doing, OK? And if I were you I wouldn't start in about Potter...We all know how you really feel!"

And with that, Marlene stormed from the Hall, muttering about going to the bathroom. I wasn't worried - she was a very independent person, usually unwilling to accept help from others. That combined with her volatile temper meant that we'd seen many of these episodes before.

However, the look on Lily's face was something new. She was beet red and looked positively aghast.

Ever the sensitive one, Alice said, "Lily, she was just being a pain...Don't take it seriously..."

I was about to agree when I realized food had appeared in front of me. Finally! I spent a happy half hour eating everything I could manage.

About five minutes after the food appeared, Marlene walked back to the table, head held high, and muttered an apology. Alice, Lily, and I exchanged looks. We knew she was far too hungry to stay mad for long.

When our stomachs were all comfortably full, Dumbledore stood up and began speaking. We'd heard most of it before, and predictably, the reminders of forbidden areas and items were unremarkable (except for the reaction they caused in the Marauders, who grinned oh-so-sneakily at each other as Dumbledore spoke.) Finally, we heard Dumbledore getting ready to announce the next victim of the 'DADA curse', as we liked to call it.

"And I am very pleased to introduce you all to our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Madam Bones."

Dumbledore gazed obligingly at the rather severe-looking witch at his right as the students dutifully applauded.

"What do you reckon?" I whispered to Lily.

"Looks like she'll be tough but fair. Should be nice after Cattletaugh!"

"Yeah, nice for you, not nice for those of us who aren't getting O's in Defense..." I muttered.

While Cattletaugh had unarguably been an idiot, I would miss his halfhearted teaching style:

"Please read chapter 12 for next lesson, class...if you can find the time...you know, just look over it a bit...or not, it doesn't really matter, does it...you don't really care..." he would sigh after each lesson, often punctuated by suppressed sniffles. It was a well-known fact that the only reason Cattletaugh was teaching was because his wife had recently divorced him (after deciding that she'd rather keep seeing his brother). I'd always felt bad for the guy, but to Lily he was a waste of an hour and a half in which she could be learning Defense.

Lily was the smart, studious one, of course. Come to think of it, here I am, going on about my old teacher, and I haven't even described my friends yet!

Well, Lily. Like I said, she was smart. She had a tendency to be a bit of a know-it-all sometimes, and she could be overconfident, but she was a true friend, and kind to everyone. With long, auburn hair and very bright green eyes, she was definitely pretty, and Head Girl now to boot. I think we all secretly wanted to be Lily...but if there was one thing she was clueless about, it was how she was seen by others. I think that's why I never ended up strangling her in her sleep out of jealousy. Joke.

But anyway, Lily was the golden girl...then there was Marlene McKinnon. The beauty, of course; she had perfectly straight, shiny blond hair, a slender figure, and big blue eyes. Marlene came from a rich family, and could be haughty and stuck-up, but she was also the most loyal person I've ever met. She was proud, both of herself and of the rest of us, and sometimes annoyingly independent, but if you needed a word, Marlene was always there.

And of course, Alice Budger. Alice was quiet and shy. She never spoke up in class, even when she knew the answer (which was most of the time - she was nearly as smart as Lily.) She was rather plain, with mousy hair and brown eyes, but she wasn't ugly. Alice has always been a mystery to me: she was sweet and kind but had a cutting sense of humor that would totally catch you off guard. She was observant and very keen, in a quiet sort of way, but every so often she'd come out with some crazy idea to make us all laugh.

Alice is still alive today...the only one of us who made it through. If you could say that - she was tortured into insanity by Sirius' cousin, Bellatrix.

Anyway, off that depressing subject. After the announcements were over, we all headed over to our common rooms amid Lily's cries of, "First-years! Follow us please!" and James' "Yeah, and stick close - the dragons are hungry!" I rolled my eyes. So much for responsible Head Boy.

Tired from our journey, we soon traipsed up to our dormitory, which looked thesame as it had the first time I saw it. The sight of my familiar four-poster gave me a rush of nostalgia. It was hard to believe that this was my last year!

Settled in under the warm covers and chatting sleepily with my best friends (Marlene swore to fix my hair in the morning), I had the feeling that I was home. It didn't matter that Sirius and Marlene were together, I told myself, or that the whisperings of a dangerous Dark wizard were getting stronger. Here, nothing could ever change.

A/N: Hope you liked it! Like I said, this is mostly just a chapter to introduce the characters and get the ball rolling. I'm trying very hard to make the girls as believable and non-Mary-Sue as possible (even though they're not OCs). If I'm not succeeding, let me know! This story is pretty much planned out, so hopefully new chapters will follow soon. Feedback is appreciated!