Story: Follow what happens when a girl the Marauders used to bully decides she won't stand for it anymore. Trouble is, things are always different in practice. And standing up to Sirius Black is easier said than done.
'Never Been Kissed.'
Hogwarts
My alarm clock racketed out the most intolerable noise known to man.
Loud, whiny... and weary with me.
'MEEP!' 'MEEP!' 'MEEP!'
I slapped my hand down on it. The old 'just five more minutes' stunt had really started to become a joke.
I tried to prise one of my eyelids open and groaned. It felt like a box of kiddie's sand had been emptied into my eyeballs as I slept.
Squinting them shut, I tugged the duvet up over my head.
In the darkness of my blankets it dawned on me just why I had set the alarm in the first place...
An awful feeling gripped my stomach and squeezed. Today I would have to go back at Hogwarts for the first time in a whole year.
The previous year spent just happily existing at a normal Muggle secondary school with my normal Muggle friends was already becoming a distant memory as Hogwarts loomed dark and foreboding in my immediate future yet again.
Thanks to decisions that were out of my control, today I would be thrust back to my old 'magical' life, which consisted almost ubiquitously of geekdom and torment.
Today I would have to face my wizard bullies again for the first time in a year.
It was too much to hope that they had just up and left Hogwarts. They were the masters of their universe at school, why on earth could they possibly want to leave...?
Who were my vile tormentors, you ask?
Isn't it obvious?
.o.
I mouthed out a pathetically silent 'no'. I really wasn't ready for this.
I padded frantically to the mirror.
The sight of my reflection put my angst momentarily on pause.
What the...I had managed just three hours sleep, and yet it seemed my hair had not wasted a second of it rearranging itself into something that resembled the large bird's nest I had found in the back garden last week.
The comb staggered through my hair until a, frankly unnatural, amount of knots brought it to a full stop.
I cried out, tossing the comb to the floor in revenge. A quick glance at the clock told me time was running out.
Ragging my fingers through the mess, I dashed to the bathroom and shoved my loaded toothbrush into my mouth.
.o.
After all of the mad scrambling to get out of the house I somehow ended up arriving at the all-too familiar train platform earlier than expected.
I drank in my surroundings, noticing that everything at the station itself looked pretty much the same as I remembered; the gleaming Hogwarts Express was waiting just as patiently as it ever had to begin its journey; the same huge round clock was still suspended on the wall; the school giant was still ambling around, issuing some of the first years' with the fright of their life without even realising it.
My mother had offered to portkey to the station with me in a bid to offer a bit of support on my first day back, but I'd told her she didn't need to bother herself.
If I'm honest I was worried what would happen if I bumped into the Marauders. I didn't want her to have to hear their taunts towards me.
Some sick, twisted part of me was actually hoping to see the four boys.
I don't even know why.
Maybe I wanted to see if they'd changed. Or maybe I wanted them to see how much I'd changed.
I peered around the heaving station trying to find a familiar face, but not a single one was recognisable. Despite the crowds and the familiarity of my surroundings, I felt suddenly alone. And perhaps more than a little nauseous.
.o.
Not wanting to be left without a seat, I braved the jaunt through the crowds to the train doors.
The 'floor' felt suspiciously squishy but it was impossible to see what, or worryingly who, I was treading on. I could barely lower my head without headbutting an unsuspecting student.
Trying to ignore the fact that there was a distinct possiblity I had just walked over someone's face, I managed to clamour my way to the luxuriously gold- trimmed train doors.
As I lifted my leg to climb on, a rogue elbow caught me straight in the ribs. The resulting pain was so intense that it caught me by surprise, so much so that my raised leg was just left there, hovering stupidly in mid-air.
I looked angrily across to find the culprit, still fully aware that I had promised myself to be strong in the face of potential tormenters. My mood softened, however, when I saw that it was just a small boy, obviously a first year.
Even as I looked on, he was still pushing his chubby body into me in a desperate bid to beat me through the train door.
First year or not, that was not okay.
I nudged him forcefully away and raised an accusing eyebrow when he turned around.
The 'small boy' peeked up at me and I was more than a little surprised to find that he was actually closer to my own age than I had thought.
He was just extremely short for his age, sporting a rotund frame that wasn't particularly flattering.
Despite having the face of a sixteen year old, the poor boy had the height of a pre-teen and the figure of a middle-aged man.
He peered at me through his small eyes for longer than was entirely necessary. He didn't even apologise, just kept staring.
What was his problem? Did he know me from before or something?
In the end I was forced to relent and look away, climbing resolutely onto the train.
He was starting to freak me out.
.o.
As I stepped into the carpeted corridor of the train's inner carriage, I tried to remember if it had always been this crowded. I stumbled along the people infested walkway.
Before most of us had even found a seat, we felt our bodies all sway forward in unison as the train give a jolt.
I tried to quell my nerves, spreading and intensifying like a forest fire throughout my body.
The movement made it official; I was on my way back to Hogwarts.
There was no going back now.
I followed the long line of students in front of me as we made our way down the train's length, all of us peering with a waning sense of hope into each compartment. My search for a seat was becoming more and more desperate as the others gradually dispersed into their own compartments.
Every single carriage seemed to be filled with students, laughing loudly and generally having fun.
I couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy every time I saw them.
I always seemed to be on the outside looking in during those situations, and it was hard to miss the irony that came with looking through a literal pane of glass at them now.
.o.
I was coming to the end of the corridor. What were the odds on the very last compartment having available seats?
But when I peered in I had to double take. It was virtually empty.
I looked briefly at the door to find the 'reserved' sign I had obviously missed. But there was no sign. It seemed it was free.
A great wave of relief washed over me and I gratefully pulled the door back.
It was only when I entered the compartment that I realised my mistake.
The sole occupant of this carriage was none other than the creepy small boy I had encountered earlier.
He was sat in the nearest corner to the door, obscured by the carriage wall.
His eyes were erratically scanning the corridor outside as if looking out for someone, and he lifted his bottom from the seat as my entry l briefly blocked his view, impatiently trying to see around me. Whoever he was waiting for, he did not want to miss them.
My heart sank at the sight of him. I had no idea how he had even managed to beat me to this carriage. I had got on the train before him.
Sighing quietly, I flopped down on the seat furthest away from him next to the window.
I felt his eyes gradually make their way to my face again.
He was staring. Again.
I screamed inwardly, questioning whether I could put up with this for the entire journey.
Eventually I made up my mind that if he didn't look away in the next ten seconds I would have say something or risk losing my sanity.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six...One quick peek told me he was still staring.
Five… Why won't you look away?
Four… I will throttle you with my bare hands...
Three… Damn you!
Two… Just one more second and you're dead, do you realise that? You're dead-
"Hi, I'm just doing the rounds. Everything alright in here?"
A petite, pretty red haired girl slid the door open and unwittingly saved the boy. The sight of her immediately distracted me from any thoughts of cold-blooded murder.
"Lily." The shock made my words sound more like a statement than a greeting.
The girl's confused expression made me pause briefly, but I was certain that it was my old acquaintance. The colour of her hair and eyes could not be mistaken.
"Yes...have we met?" she asked uncertainly.
Had she honestly forgotten me after just a year? We were hardly best friends, but that was...well, hurtful.
"It's me, Cheryl," I explained. "Cheryl Morland…"
I watched her eyebrows raise a little in surprise. Even the boy in the corner seemed to twitch at the sound of my name.
Lily stared intently at my face.
Her bright green gaze seemed to take everything in, making me feel a flush of self-consciousness. It seemed like forever before her scrutiny finally ended with my eyes.
"Oh my God, it really is you," she breathed. "You're back!"
Her mouth broke out into a wide smile and she held out her arms, obviously expecting a welcome back embrace.
Reluctantly I climbed to my feet and returned the gesture. Perversely instead of finding hugs comforting I'd always found them extremely awkward. My Aunt had once half-joked that it was because I wasn't hugged enough as a child.
But I don't think that was necessarily true. I was just weird about things like that; human contact etcetera etcetera.
Lily's was no different and I was secretly glad when it was over, though I tried not to let it show on my face.
She held me at arm's length now and looked me up and down, smiling. "Merlin, it really is you." She shook her head slightly "You look so different."
Good.
"But where've you been?" she continued in disbelief, oblivious to my inner joy over my altered appearance. "We all wondered where you went when you just didn't turn up last year!"
"My parents divorced and my mother moved us to Ireland for a fresh start," I chanted as though it had been rehearsed. I plopped back in my seat, not really wanting to get into my parents love life, or lack there of.
Lily shook her head, "but Ireland's really not that far away, couldn't you have still come to Hogwa-?"
"No." I said simply, interrupting her in her tracks. I let out a small breath of air, realising how snappy I'd sounded.
"I mean," I tried again, my voice placating now, "a fresh start to my mom means new home, new school, new everything. She's nothing if not thorough." I tried to keep my voice light-hearted.
It seemed lost on Lily, who already had her sympathetic head on. Her expression was kind but unwittedly made me feel like a socially inadequate child.
"Well I'm glad you're back anyway," she continued brightly, "I think you'll find things are pretty much the same..." Her voice trailed off and her eyes flicked for the briefest second to the small boy in the corner.
I didn't get the chance to consider the implications of her glance until afterward, because a booming laugh emanating in from the corridor outside made me jump.
It wasn't just the sheer decibel of it that sent a quick convulse through my entire body.
I recognised that laugh.
The small staring boy who had previously looked antsy now had a wide smile on his face as he scrambled to his feet and shouted, "In here, in here!"
I had to resist the urge to rugby-tackle him to the ground and clamp a hand over his tell-tale squeaks. It was too late anyway. He had given away our position.
In a second the door to our compartment was pulled roughly open and three tall boys towered over us from the doorway.
I felt my stomach crawl into my mouth as my body shook with the unwanted rush of adrenaline at the sight of them. A strange ringing noise echoed through my ears.
The boy at the front rumpled his hair with an inane smirk.