"Aargh! Damn this stupid rain!" was the first thought that AriaDonniver thought as she stumbled out the door of the cab. Normally, she loved the rain, but today, it was just getting in her way.
She heaved her trunk out of the taxi's cab and her owl's, Artemis's, cage. She glanced at her watch. 10:51. "Crap! I'm going to miss the train!" she thought. She started to race towards Kings Cross Station, until the taxi driver stopped her. Aria, irritated, stopped and whipped around, her eyes ablaze. "What?" she snapped. Red-faced, and more than a little flustered, the driver stammered, "Erm, excuse me, Miss, but uhh… my m-money?" he concluded meekly . "GOD! WHAT IS IT WITH YOU PEOPLE AND MONEY???!!!" Aria screeched. Aria thrust a 50-pound note into his hand and proceeded to storm off towards the station. Shocked into silence, the taxi driver ogled at the money in his hand and at the figure of Aria in the distance. Shaking his head, the taxi driver climbed back into his cab.
Platform 7…8…9…ah ha! Aria finally stopped to catch her breath. She noticed that several people were looking at her oddly. Aria blushed. She must have looked quite a sight, with her waist-length wavy black hair flying around her (and probably into several people's faces too, mind you) and her snowy-white owl screeching madly.
Aria glanced at her watch. She had 5 minutes! Glancing around her making sure that no one was too curious about the demented girl with the accomplice owl and had decided to follow her; Aria casually leaned against the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, and soon felt the solid-looking barrier give away.
She was met with the sight of a massive red steam engine gleaming gloriously under the lights of platform 9 ¾. She surveyed the engine fondly for a second with her chocolate-and-honey colored eyes before breaking into a sprint for the train.
She staggered into a corridor, dragging her trunk up with her, and not a second too early either. The moment her trunk was resting safely on the floor of the train, it started to slowly increase in speed. Aria let out a relieved sigh. She had made it! She would have never forgiven herself for missing the train on her last year at Hogwarts. Thinking over this morning's events, she felt relaxed enough to chuckle a little. After all, it had been quite an eventful morning.
That was when Aria heard voices coming from the next corridor. "Where is she? The train's already taken off and we can't find her! I hope she didn't miss the train! That would be terrible…" Aria grinned at the all too familiar sound of her best friend, Lily's, worried voice. A lazy drawl replied, "Eh, Lily, you worry too much. Maybe she finally went on a killing rampage after she had a sugar rush and the muggle poly-cee thingies have her in custody…" Aria rolled her eyes, that was so typical of GracieYoungblood, her other best friend.
Aria could almost feel the heat of Lily's glare. "Very funny Grace, very funny," she said sarcastically. Their footsteps were growing steadily closer to the spot where Aria stood, hidden. She decided to have a little fun with her friends. Aria cast a quick Disillusionment Charm on herself and snuck behind Lily and Gracie. She then whispered in a creepy voice, "The Cookie Monster is back, and it wants a munchy….." The two girls yelped and spun around to find themselves face-to-face with their best friend.
"Aria!" Lily screamed and launched herself at her best friend. Aria staggered back and found herself being strangled by a frantic redhead. Wide-eyed, Aria mouthed" Help me!" to Gracie, but she smirked and shook head. "Serves you right for playing that lame prank on us." After Lily released her and Aria caught her breath, Aria pouted. "Hey! After my traumatizing morning, you should be comforting me, not belittling me! Some sort of friend you are!" Gracie rolled her unique periwinkle-colored eyes, though they were twinkling with amusement and shook the few stray strands of her shoulder-length white-blonde hair out of her face. "We were worried about you!" Lily said, ignoring Gracie, "What happened?"
"Let's find a compartment first," replied Aria. The two girls nodded and led her to their compartment. "Okay, so, what happened?" asked Gracie, jumping up and down in her seat like a little kid. "Well, I woke up this morning…" As Aria told her story, she realized that it was rather more embarrassing than it had been so previously. When she got to the part about the taxi driver, her cheeks reddened. How could she have been so rude? Gracie laughed. "I wish I were there! You're funnnny when you're mad!" Aria glared at her, but the twitching corners of her mouth gave it away. Lily, who was laughing, suddenly assumed a serious expression. Aria was baffled by the sudden change in her demeanor. "What's wrong?" Aria asked, searching her friend's beautiful emerald green eyes.
"Did you have any visions this summer?" Lily asked. Aria went pale and started trembling.
"Aria?" Gracie asked in alarm. "Yes," Aria whispered. "I saw... I saw… "Aria closed her eyes, trying to erase the memories that she had tried so hard to keep away. She could remember it all so clearly, the terror that radiated through the air, the blood-curling screams that pierced her all the way in the heart. "What was it, Aria?" Gracie asked. "Do you remember the Trimble's murder?" asked Aria in a small voice. Lily gasped in horror. The story had been all over the newspapers. They had been tortured to death by someone who called himself "Lord Voldemort" who hated all muggle-borns and half-bloods.
Aria was….well; no one knew quite what she was. Aria sometimes had visions of what would happen in the future, and they weren't always pleasant. It really mattered on what was going on. Right now, the wizarding world was fighting a war against evil, and now and then, she would have visions about deaths. She wasn't a Seer…her visions contained horrifyingly accurate detail and would leave her shaken up for days. No one knew Aria's blood-status. She had been left on the steps of a wizarding family and was orphaned by them. No existing European pure-blood or half-blood family matched her characteristics. As far as they knew, she was a muggle. Aria was a magical genius, called even "the brightest young witch to walk the halls of Hogwarts since Dumbledore."
However, these magical visions prevented her from being able to cope with the responsibilities of being prefect or Head Girl. These, instead, went to Lily, though Aria didn't mind one bit. Throughout the years, however, Aria had learned how to better control her visions and recover more quickly, so this year, she was rewarded with the position of Gryffindor prefect. Only Lily and Gracie knew about her condition, and all her other friends still were confused as to why she didn't get prefect before.
"Was it bad?" Lily enquired her emerald green eyes boring into her ones. Aria took a shuddering breath. "The worst yet. I thought I had it under control! I guess it's because things are becoming worse out there. "Lily's gaze was full of pity. " I'm sorry. When did it happen?"
"Mid-June. It took me a whole month to recover." "Wow," said Gracie softly. "But," Aria said, forcing a smile," I'm okay now!" The three girls sat in silence pondering over their own thoughts until…"Bloody Merlin! Lily, we've got to run! The prefect meeting's in five minutes, and you're Head Girl!" As Aria dragged Lily out the door, she muttered a quick good-bye to Gracie over her shoulder.
"Who do you think the Head Boy is, Lily?"
"Oh, I'm sure it's Remus, or maybe Amos Diggory from Hufflepuff…"
Aria smirked to herself, knowing very well who the Head Boy was. She couldn't wait to see Lily's reaction! As the girls entered the cabin, they were met by the sight of a pale, handsome, tawny-haired boy, who, admittedly, looked a little sickly. "Remus!" Lily greeted warmly and hugged the boy. Remus's warm caramel eyes twinkled. Aria also hugged him. "How have you been?" inquired Aria.
"Well enough, but uh, I uh, had a couple problems with my rabbit…" The two girls rolled their eyes at each other, unseen by Remus. They both knew that Remus was a werewolf. Aria had figured it out first year, and Lily 3rd. Suddenly, the door to the cabin burst open and a tall, handsome, bespectacled boy with uncontrollably messy jet-black hair came in.
"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," said James Potter uncomfortably, attempting to smile. His warm hazel eyes were full of apprehension, but he stood his ground. The moment he entered the room, Lily's whole demeanor changed. "What are you doing here, Potter? "She spat at him viciously. He cringed. "This compartment is for prefects and Heads only."
"I know that." Remus and Aria smirked at each other. "Remus, you're Head Boy! Tell your friend to get out of here!"
"Oh, but my dear Lily, I am not Head Boy."
"What?" she asked in confusion," Then who is?" James, afraid to speak motioned towards a small but prominent badge that was clasped onto his robes with the inscriptions "HB" on it. Lily stared at it uncomprehendingly for a second, and then the screaming started. Remus and Aria both clasped their hands over their ears simultaneously.
1… Aria counted mentally, 2…3…4…5…6…7…8…9…10… "Is it over?" she mouthed to Remus. "I think so," he replied. The two cautiously removed their hands from their ears. The other prefects around them were slowly removing their own hands form their ears, but they were all grinning. This, after all, was nothing new. They had all been anticipating Lily's reaction to James's new position. "How could Dumbledore do this? You're an arrogant bullying toe rag who's broken the record for most detentions received. How did you get Head Boy? Why is this happening to me? WHY?" Lily asked, her voice steadily rising in pitch. Aria, amused turned to Remus and said cheerfully, "Well she certainly took that well!"
"Oh come on, Lils, I'm not that bad," James said, his warm hazel eyes twinkling with amusement. "You can yell at me later, we have to conduct a meeting!" said James. Lily, rather taken aback at his response, said "Right, well, erm..." Her face was beet-ret as she looked upon the amused faces of her fellow prefects. She composed herself. "Right! Well, as you all know, we are here today to…" and with each word spoken, she gained in confidence and was back to her usual state. To everyone's immense surprise, James took over halfway through the meeting, conducting it in an orderly and professional fashion. Lily watched him, bewildered by this out-of-character behavior.
"Right, so does anyone have any questions?" James finished. Everyone shook their heads, still a little dazed. "Do you have anything to add, Lily?" Lily shook her head stiffly."Well, then you're free to go!" said James. He then joined his friends. "Impressive, James!" Aria commented, genuinely impressed. "How did you know what to do? You weren't even a prefect!" Lily said, baffled.
" I, uh, well, I…" James flushed, "I had Moony here help me and coach me on what to say."
"Wow! You really took this seriously, huh? Don't you think so, Lily?" Aria asked. James eyed her hopefully. Lily sighed and nodded. "Against my will, I must say that I'm rather impressed, Potter." She admitted grudgingly. James's whole face lit up and he beamed at her. Aria ruined the moment by snorting.
"Wait until Black hears! He'll never let you live this down!" James went pale. "Oh come on, Aria! You wouldn't do that to your best buddy, would you?" James pleaded. His expression was so pathetic that Aria and Remus couldn't help but laughing. "Of course, I will! What sort of a person do you think I am?" James grumbled a little. Suddenly, a streak of light came from the corridor in front of them. Alarmed, the four ran down as fast as they could. Four Slytherin 7th years had cornered a little girl. Trembling with rage, Aria and James immediately jumped into action. "Stop right there!" Aria bellowed. The Slytherins, surprised, jerked back to reveal a little first-year girl who was trembling with fear. "How dare you attack a student who is 6 years younger than you! You should be ashamed of yourselves!"
" Why should we be ashamed of ridding our school of filth, Mudblood?" leered a big, burly Slytherin by the name of Mulciber. James, furious, let out a roar and flung a stunning spell at him. Aria motioned for him to stop. "70 points from Slytherin," she said her voice colder than ice, "For attacking a student and especially a first year, and using derogatory language against a prefect."
She shot them a filthy look and walked up to the little girl. She gently offered her hand to her. "Hello, sweetheart. I'm so sorry for what happened. Let's get you out of here," she said softly. As they walked down the corridor, she said, "I'm Aria Donniver, and this is James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Lily Evans." "Hello," said the girl shyly,"I'm Sophia Marie Hamilton. Thank you." She had red hair, like Lily's, though not quite as dark, and it was curly instead of wavy, and her turquoise eyes were full of gratification. "You're very welcome, sweetheart," said James, winking at her. The girl blushed.
Lily rolled her eyes but smiled. All girls were automatically nervous at first around James because he was so good looking. I guess he has another member to join his fan club, now thought Lily, smirking. At that moment, that moment, Sophia caught sight of her friends and scampered away. They suddenly realized that they had come to the end of the train. "Hey, where's Gracie?" asked Lily, puzzled. " I don't know, but all the other compartments are full, which means…" James finished, trying to look apologetic, but you could tell that he was ecstatic. "Oh no," Lily groaned," I'm not sitting with you lot!" "Be my guest, Lily darling, if you want to stand in the corridors for the entire train ride." Lily grumbled, and gave up.
The girls followed the boys to their compartment. Aria wasn't so pleased either. She'd have to sit in the same compartment as Sirius Black….Ew. She wrinkled her nose with displeasure at the thought. The second they opened the door, they were met with the sound of Sirius's dulcet tones. " Prongsie the Head Boy is herrrrrrrrrrre!" sang a black-haired boy with stormy grey eyes that was ridiculously good looks . Aria winced. "Oh! Look! So is Lily-flower, his beloved and fellow Head Girl! Rather cliché don't you think?"
Lily glared at him while James, used to this sort of behavior rolled his eyes and collapsed on his seat. "And also…..Donniver," he said, his voice becoming much less enthusiastic as he muttered Aria's last name distastefully. Aria rolled her eyes. "Lovely too see you too, Black," she remarked sarcastically. She glanced at the people sitting in the compartment, and sure enough, she saw Gracie sitting there, with her signature smirk.
"Traitor!" she said, glaring at her. Gracie simply laughed. "So Lily-flower, how big of a fool did he make of himself?"asked Sirius. It was Aria's turn to smirk. "Not very, actually. Apparently, he's been taking 'private tutor sessions' from Remus" said Aria, quite enjoying the look of panic that had crossed James's face. Sirius let out a bark-like laugh and said. "I'll never let you live that down….James Potter? Chief trouble-maker and boy with the most detentions, has becoming RESPONSIBLE???"
Suddenly, a look of panic flashed across Sirius's face. "Wait! You'll still participate in the Marauder's pranks, right?" James looked uncomfortable and said,"Sorry, Sirius, I don't think so. I'm Head Boy now, and I want to show Professor Dumbledore that I deserve it!" Bothe Lily and Sirius looked shocked, and Sirius proceeded to sulk and ignore James. "What a bunch of dragon dung," muttered Sirius under his breath, "Responsibility," he said with disgust.
"So how were your summers?" asked Lily, trying to break the tension. Thankfully, the maneuver worked, and soon everyone was animatedly talking about their summers. They found out that Sirius had been disowned and had run away to James's house. Aria knew that Sirius didn't get along very well with his family, but she hadn't known it was THAT bad. Aria had artfully avoided being questioned, mostly staying quiet, and when the conversation veered her way; she usually directed it away by asking a thoughtful question here or there.
However, she must have spaced out because Remus asked her, "So, Aria, how was your summer?" Aria could sees Gracie and Lily exchange nervous looks. Aria paled and answered,"Erm, it was okay…" "Well, what did you do?" Remus still inquired. "I, uh, well I read, and did homework," Sirius snorted, and all three girls shot him glares," But I was sick for a while. It was an unknown disease, and the healers said that bed-rest was the best cure at the moment." Remus nodded. "And I also played a bit of Quidditch…" James and Sirius couldn't help themselves, they chuckled.
"What?" asked Aria defensively. "Well, you don't seem the type to play Quidditch," James said," Heck! You don't seem the type to play any sports! You're too princessy with your perfect grades" said Sirius, and added with a slightly more bitter tone," And perfect life." Aria laughed without humor," So you think I've got a perfect life, huh?"she said trying to mask the fury in her voice. Lily and Gracie, who knew very well that her life was very hard indeed, were shooting Sirius nasty looks.
Aria must have realized that everyone was starting to give her odd looks, decided to change the topic. "And that's just sexist! In fact, I bet that I'm so good at Quidditch that I bet I can get on the Gryffindor Quidditch Team!" "Fine!" said Sirius, smirking. "Ten Galleons." They shook on it. "Easiest money I'll ever make," commented Sirius. Aria glared at him, which caused him to glare at her. Everyone rolled their eyes at the pair. Aria and Sirius had always had a mutual dislike of each other. It had started with something rather trivial, really. In the first year, Aria and Sirius had been arguing over a certain compartment. They both wanted to sit there. There was an empty one right by it, but they were too stubborn to give up. Aria ended up giving Sirius a pair of floppy bunny ears and claimed the compartment. Ever since that day, they had always been getting each other back for various pranks pulled over the years. The sky outside became darker and darker outside, until the massive form of the castle finally came into view.
"Okay, it's time to change," Gracie announced. The boys remained seated looking at the girls expectantly. Aria rolled her eyes. "Out you ninny-muffins! We have to change, alone!" And with that, she took her wand out of her robes, but she didn't have to speak twice. Aria was well known for making her own imaginative charms and spells over the years, and they usually involved extreme humiliation for the victim. As soon as they were out, Aria slammed the door in their faces. Sirius just had one question. "Ninny-muffins?" he asked weakly.
After the train arrived at Hogsmeade station, Aria, Lily, James, and Remus proceeded to wave the first years towards the giant gamekeeper, Hagrid. They all clambered into boats. Lily saw Sophia getting in a boat with two brunettes and a blonde.
After they had finished their duties, they clambered into the carriages. Since ther were so many of them, it was rather squished. "Black! Get your foot out of my face!" or "Youngblood! You're cutting off my circulation!" was to be heard from all around the carriage. Finally, they made it to the school, and they all clambered out.
The Marauders and the girl sat next to each other and waited for the first years to be sorted. "Bennet, Anna" became the first Gryffindor. Every time a student was sorted into their house, James and Sirius would cheer for them louder than anyone else and shoot sparks from their wands, which caused the girls in particular to blush madly.
Aria watched as Sophia' name was called out and she nervously made her way up the steps to be sorted. After a few seconds of deliberation, the hat called out "GRYFFINDOR!" All the Marauders and the girls cheered for her loudly, and James and Sirius made special turquoise sparks fly out of their wands to match her eyes. She beamed at us before half -running, half -skipping her way over to the Gryffindor table.
After a while, though, all of them felt their stomachs begin to rumble and wished for the sorting to be over. After the last student had been sorted, Professor Albus Dumbledore stood up and beamed at the rest of the school. "I have a feeling that a speech will be lost on you at this time, so hopefully you can bear with me to listen to these last words; Dig in!"
All the students watched their tables eagerly as mounds of delicious food suddenly appeared on their tables. Gracie piled the food up onto her plate greedily, but it was nothing compared to Sirius, who looked like he had taken about half the food on the table. "God, Black! You are such a dog!" said Aria, eying the amount of food on Sirius's plate with disgust. For some unfathomable reason, the Marauders found this funny and all roared with laughter. Raising an eyebrow, Aria looked questioningly at her friends, but they just shrugged.
After dessert, Dumbledore went over the standard school rules, and then everyone made a rush to get up to their dormitories. Aria sighed. She still had to show the first years where to go. Wallowing in self-pity, she dragged herself from the table before she fell asleep.
Meanwhile, Lily and James silently made their way towards the headmaster's office. They muttered the password, "Sugar Quills," and sat down in front of Dumbledore's desk.
"Ms. Evans and Mr. Potter!" he said smiling, "Congratulations on becoming our Heads for the year. Now, you realize that there is a war going on in the wizarding world now?" They both nodded tensely. "Well, that is why you roles this year are even more crucial than before. I have no doubt that you will be excellent Heads. Now, there are a few 'perks' as you might put it, of being Head Boy and Girl. So now, if you will accompany me to your new dormitories, I will feel greatly obliged."
Dumbledore led the pair to a portrait of Godric Gryffindor himself. "What should our password be?" inquired Lily. "Well, not something that Sirius could guess, he has a knack for guessing passwords…" "What about, 'Prongsie is a Prat?'" asked Lily. James laughed. "It's great, I just hope Sirius doesn't figure that one out."
As they walked into their new dormitory, they were in awe. It was gorgeous. It looked just like the Gryffindor common room, except there were two desks on either side of the room with each of their name's engraved in gold. "This is amazing," breathed Lily.
Their bedrooms were joined by a door, and they each had their own bathroom. "Well, I sort of want to sleep in my old dormitory on my first night back," said Lily. "I agree," said James. And with that, they both walked to the Gryffindor common room. "Well goodnight, Potter" said Lily briskly as she made her way past him. He surprised her at the last moment by grabbing her hand and saying, "Please, call me James," with a smile, and before she knew it, she was left standing alone in the common room. All the other girls in her dormitory were already asleep by the time Lily made it up. Lily smiled fondly at her dormitory before snuggling up in her covers. She couldn't wait for tomorrow…