On that hot morning, Harry settled one thing; he absolutely hated spring cleaning. What annoyed him even more was that his mother had handed him and Padfoot (the most reluctant of the lot) the place which contained the most bulk of incomprehensible junk, the basement.
As a little boy, Harry had thought that exploring with basement was fun. One never knew what they could find buried in the boxes which hadn't been opened in years. It was ironic how easily orders could change the way one thought about something, now the basement which had at first seemed like a treasure island looked dull and boring, the boxes not containing interesting items rather more things to sort out.
Padfoot was sitting in a corner with the contents of one box spread out in front of him; they were mostly files of his father's previous cases as an Auror. Harry should have saluted Lily, the woman who made Sirius Black read.
Harry also decided to get working, for the sooner they were done, the sooner they would get their treat; Lily Potter's famous chocolate chip cookies. Besides, Harry had other things to do, like flying. So, he took hold of the box nearest to him and peeled off the lid. The box was labeled "fifth year" so Harry guessed it belonged to his mother or father containing memories of their school years. As he peered inside, his assumption was proved correct. He took out a stack of pictures which were held together in a neat pile by a thin rubber band.
Must be Mum's, Dad is never this clean, or maybe mom just cleaned it up for him
The first picture seemed to destroy his current belief of the basement being boring, one would always find new things in it.
It was of the marauders, but standing along with them was a thin girl who looked a little sick. She had dark brown hair which was tied into a pony tail and pure black eyes. Harry had never seen her, which surprised him. If she were that important that his mother preserved a picture of her all these years, he must have heard of her. He strained his mind, trying to remember but came out null. He indeed had no idea who this girl was. The next thing he noticed made him even more suspicious, why did Remus have his arm around her? He had seen Moony do that with only one girl, his mother. That was what egged him on to inquire Sirius about her.
He moved to where his godfather sat, mumbling "this is all utter rubbish, why didn't James just set fire to them as soon as he was done. He should see my basement, won't find a thing….."
"You don't have a basement Padfoot" Harry politely pointed out as he came to sit beside him.
Sirius looked like he wanted to say something but changed his mind. Instead he said "we are not having a tea party, go work before your mother punctures my ear drums…"
"Who is she?" Harry asked bluntly, pushing the picture under Sirius' nose. One thing he had learned over the years, Sirius didn't like it if you danced around a topic before getting to the point.
He saw all the annoyance and mirth disappear from his godfather's face and it was replaced by a stony mask, one Harry knew too well. Sirius was sad or angry.
"I always thought we should have told you" he mumbled, more to himself rather than Harry, nevertheless Harry heard him.
"Who is she?" he repeated, watching Sirius with a critical eye.
Sirius on the other hand seemed to be lost somewhere and showed no indication that he had heard Harry, which was probably the case. "I had almost forgotten her…her smile and all. Our very own personal tom boy she was…"
"Earth to Sirius!" cried Harry, growing frustrated from his godfather's lack of attention.
Sirius jerked straight, but his eyes never left the picture which he was watching with a fond smile. "Who is she? I am kind of ashamed you don't know she would have wanted to be in your bedtime stories. This Harry is Erica Higgins…..known to many at Hogwarts as the fifth marauder"
"The fifth marauder, but I thought there were only four of you guys….."
"She wasn't there for long but when she was…"
"Can I know about her" asked Harry in a pleading tone.
Sirius nodded "let's turn spring cleaning to spring….err…..storytelling. So her story begins like ours did on the first of September, we were in our fifth year….
The 1st of September marked the beginning of a new session for the students of Hogwarts. At the moment, the sorting ceremony had ended and the first years had joined their respective tables. As soon as the food appeared, it was the only thing on the students mind.
Remus Lupin who sat beside his friends had other things on his mind, like who was their new defense against the dark arts teacher?
He surveyed the head table looking for an unfamiliar face which would of course belong to their new defense against the dark arts teacher. He hoped the new teacher was better than the old one who had been afraid to even talk about any harmful curses. He reckoned last year had been a bit of a fluke for they had spent most of their time reading text books.
His eyes stopped on the empty chair beside Professor Dumbledore which was usually occupied by Professor McGonagall. But today, it was empty. Where was their deputy headmistress? Usually a student would have shrugged it off, thinking she was simply late. But he didn't understand had she rushed out after the sorting? It was rather unlike their stern teacher to skive off.
He turned to James and Sirius to express his thoughts. It was not surprising they hadn't noticed, the pair of them were busy telling a nervous first year muggleborn to chill, the studies were not too difficult. He was about to nudge Peter who was sitting next to Sirius eating his full when the door of the great hall opened a crack. The students didn't notice anything, but Remus had already been watching the door with observant eye so he saw their teacher slip in. He suppressed a grin for she ironically reminded him of them as they sneaked into the Gryffindor Tower late at night after a prank as she stealthily moved to the head table. She knelt down beside Professor Dumbledore and urgently whispered something in his ear. The professor nodded his face grim. Professor McGonagall moved away and sat onto her seat as Professor Dumbledore got to his feet.
A few students saw the headmaster get to his feet and scrambled to silence the people sitting around them. Soon, the chatter died away and everyone was staring intently at the Headmaster waiting for him to proceed. Dumbledore smiled reassuringly at them before saying "this year something unusual will be happening at Hogwarts. We have accepted someone who was for the most part of her life home schooled..."
He was immediately interrupted as the students began talking among themselves. Wondering who it was and why he or she was here. Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and the students stopped talking immediately. It was surprising how much authority a gentle old man could emit if he wanted to.
"Thank you" he said "as I was saying, let's not let our curiosity get in the way of welcoming her warmly. Please join me and welcome Miss Erica Higgins who will be joining the fifth year Gryffindor"
The great hall was filled with the sound of polite clapping and the doors opened. A girl walked in. Though according to what Professor Dumbledore she was fifteen, she would have fit for a thirteen year old. Then again, pointing it out would have made him a hypocrite for he didn't look any better. She had dark brown hair which was tied neatly into a braid. He couldn't tell her eye color from the distance but as she moved closer, he noticed it was pure ebony black. Most of the boys thought she was plain looking, Remus thought she was quiet pretty.
It surprised the other kids when she came and sat next to Remus. They were thought to be the height of cool and not many people really talked to them though many craved to. Remus smiled at her wanting her to feel welcome. She smiled back, though hers seemed a little forced. She watched the table looking like a frightened tourist. Remus pondered where to begin and decided to start simple.
"hi!" he said extending his hand towards hers "my name is Remus"
She took her eyes off whatever she had been watching and smiled again this time she seemed more sure of herself. She accepted his hand shaking it "Erica...you probably know that because the Headmaster announced it to the whole school"
Remus simply smiled and nodded, contemplating what to say next. "So how do you like Hogwarts so far?" He had asked her a typical question, one that almost all the new students were asked.
"It is...erm...well there is no other word for it...magical" she said gazing into distance "I was home schooled so I have never really seen anything like...this!"
"Yeah, did you come by the boats or the carriages" he asked her wanting to keep talking, lame questions were better than uncomfortable silences in his book.
She looked confused "by portkey actually"
"Pity you had to miss it, to view is gorgeous from the boats"
She nodded and started piling her plate with food. She stopped and turned back to him "what year are you in"
"Same as you" he said, swallowing hurriedly in order to answer her.
He saw relief flit through her face. She had clearly been worried but now she had someone to help her. They both ate silently, the silence between them not uncomfortable.
After sometime, he saw that she was slowly becoming more and more annoyed and she was steadily getting redder. She fidgeted around nervously and unconsciously patted her hair as if to check that it was neat and lying down flat. "What?" he asked her.
She turned to him, her lips pressed into a thin line. "What's up with those guys...they keep on glaring at me" she asked jabbing her finger towards the Slytherin table.
Remus followed her gaze; sure enough the Slytherins were glaring at her as they talked amoung themselves seemingly uncaring to the fact that they were making the exchange student uncomfortable. Remus glared back at them and upon finding out that they had been noticed they ducked their head and busied themselves with other things. "Slytherins and Gryffindors don't exactly mix" he said simply.
By this time, Sirius and James seemed to have noticed the new girl who was talking to Remus. Sirius leaned in so that he was visible. "The name is Sirius, Sirius Black" he said with a flirtatious smile.
At this, usually girls would giggle and duck their heads as their cheeks would turn crimson but Erica took the first step of being different. She gave him a sly grin "don't flatter me or you will find you chained to a wood rack" she said in an overly sweet smile and a lopsided grin.
"Is that a threat...ow! Prongs"
James smacked Sirius across the head and forcefully pushed him out of the way "excuse my amateur side-kick ("who you calling a sidekick Potter!") madam but he seems to have a curse at scaring fair ladies such as yourself. I am James Potter"
Erica smiled mysteriously at him "it is an honor to have had met you kind sir"
James looked impressed "wow someone who can actually do it"
"do what" she asked him probably wondering that she was supposed to have done.
"you spoke like a true lady my dear"
she let out a hearty laugh "oh that, you can courtesy my mom and her romantic novels for it"
"You should feel ashamed James, flirting with your sister-in-law!" cried a voice from behind James. Sirius peeked from between James arms.
"Sister in law? Great way to begin Padfoot" said James, batting Sirius' head away.
The Gryffindor table and the rest watched the new comer with renewed jealousy; a newbie had done what many had been trying to do for years. The girls watched jealously as James laughed and playfully patted Erica on her shoulder. Their envy grew as they saw Sirius bat his eyebrows; he would be asking her out soon. And it reached its peak as the five got to their feet and Remus took her hand to lead her out of the hall and to the Gryffindor common room. The only one not watching them, were Lily Evans, Alice Longbottom and Marlene McKinnon, but it was common knowledge that Lily hated them and in no way would ever envy them.
OOOOO
Erica slowly opened the girl's dormitory. The other girls were getting ready for bed. She realized that there were three girls who were fifth years. The red-haired one who Sirius had said James was smitten over looked up from her trunk and smiled at her. "You are the new comer, hi! I am Lily Evans" she said pointing her index finger towards her chest "Marlene McKinnon" she jabbed her finger towards the blond girl with bushy hair who waved enthusiastically "and Alice Longbottom" she pointed to the brunette who was sitting on her bed. The girl gave a small wave and a smile.
Erica smiled at them "I am Erica Higgins". She cast a look around the room. It was comfortable with four beds and red hangings. She didn't know which one was hers. She was about to ask Lily about it when she spotted her trunk sitting at the foot of the bed next to Lily's. She walked towards it and pulled open the lid. She dressed silently as the other girls climbed into their respective beds. She looked at her bed; it looked comfortable but foreign to her. With a tired sigh she too climbed into bed, the others were already asleep.
It had been a long day, she knew but she couldn't sleep. She tossed onto her side and watched the window. She missed home…..but them she wondered where it was. She had no home, now Hogwarts was the only home she had and she best get used to it.
The school was curious of her; she just hoped her secret wasn't discovered.
OOOOO
This is not exactly the best chapter and I am very well aware of that. I wrote this one ages ago and I swear I am a bit (but only a bit) better now. Please stick around annnnnd REVIEW
SNEAK PEAK:
"It was my mother's favorite" she said defensively with a fond smile as she lifted the book and clutched it to her chest. Remus didn't miss the flash of sadness and decided to let it drop. No one really knew why she had shifted to Hogwarts but Remus felt a sense of foreboding around the subject and realized that it was probably due to personal reasons.
