1The Marauders
Chapter One: Introductions, Howlers and notes.
Zizi Malone
I gazed in awe at the gleaming scarlet steam engine in front of me. My name is Zizi Malone, I am 11 years old and am on my way to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I still can't quite believe I am going, I've waited so long for this moment it seems like a dream to actually be here. "Zizi, stop dreaming, you have to get on the train!" my mum Hannah says.
I shake myself and push my trunk toward the train.
"Shall I help you with that?" I hear a voice behind me and see a boy around my size with a mop of messy, jet black hair and round glasses perched on the end of his nose. "Ermm..." I hesitate, "Oh sorry, James Potter, pleased to meet you." he says politely holding out his hand. I smile "Zizi Malone." and shake his hand, deciding he's friendly. Between us we manage to lift my overstuffed trunk onto the train.
We manage to find an empty compartment near the back of the train and pile inside pulling our luggage with us.
We sit down, taking the seats near the window.
Just then a boy with a face of thunder, storms in muttering curses under his breath. He slams himself down in the seat nearest the door and freezes when he notices James and I.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise there was people in here~" he says quickly but I cut him off "It's okay, stay if you like, hopefully you're better company than Jamsie over here" I say grinning he laughs.
"Come and sit here" James says "I'm James Potter and this...thing, is Zizi Malone" he smiles and I whack him lightly on the arm.
"I'm Sirius Black, at your service" he says giving a mock bow and winking. It's then I finally get to look at him closer, he has shoulder length, black hair and stormy grey eyes that twinkle with mischief. I would soon realize that mischief is his middle name.
James Potter
I break the awkward atmosphere "So, where are you headed, if you had the choice?" I ask the compartment in general.
"Ermm... Gryffindor, I hope" says Zizi thoughtfully.
"Anywhere but Slytherin" says Sirius firmly, I look at him quizzically "My whole family's been in Slytherin, lousy bunch of backstabbers"
I raise my eyebrows, surprised, he seemed nice "And I thought you were okay!" I joked.
He laughs a hollow laugh "I want to be somewhere different, somewhere to get away from my family." he says darkly.
"Rebel, eh?" says Zizi and he laughs genuinely.
"Well they're not exactly the nicest of people." he grins at her.
"So where do you want to go?" says Zizi.
"Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart, like my dad" I grin striking a pose, we all fell about laughing and suddenly there was a soft knock at the door and a slightly dishevelled, sandy haired boy with shabby robes but wearing a kind smile opens the compartment door.
We were all in such a good mood, we beckon him in enthusiastically. He smiles and shuffles in slightly hesitantly.
I grin at him "Come and sit down" says Sirius "I'm Sirius Black and this is James Potter and Zizi Malone" he continues.
"I'm Remus Lupin" he says quietly sitting down.
"So, Remus, where do you want to go? Like which house?" I ask.
He looks thoughtful and finally says "Well I was thinking...Ravenclaw or Gryffindor" he trails off "well I don't really mind" he finishes.
"Wouldn't it be cool if we were all in Gryffindor, we could like play pranks and stuff" I say smiling round the compartment and Sirius nods in agreement. Zizi raises her eyebrows "You two are sooo gunna have a bad influence on me" she jokes.
All of a sudden, the compartment door slid open to reveal a small girl with red hair and a sallow skinned, greasy haired boy follows her. "Excuse me, may we sit here?" she asks politely. I gesture casually to the seats nearest the door "Be my guest".
They sit down and immediately become engaged in conversation, I don't pay attention until the greasy haired kid says something like "You'd better be in Slytherin" and I suppress a shudder.
"Who'd want to be in Slimy Slytherin?" I sneer "I think I'd leave wouldn't you?"
"Well if you'd rather be brawny than brainy" says the greasy boy.
"Where are you going, seeing as you're neither?" says Sirius, glaring at him.
I burst out laughing, I had a feeling I was going to get on extremely well with Sirius.
"Come on Severus, let's go and find another compartment" the red haired girl says dramatically and with that, she and the greasy haired boy, Severus, storms out of the compartment, slamming the door behind them. "Well they were nice" says Remus, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
A few minutes later, a plump lady pushing trolley laden with sweets of all shapes and sizes came past the compartment. "Anything from the trolley dears?" she asks kindly.
Sirius, Zizi and I immediately stand up, rummaging for money in our pockets.
"Don't you want anything Remus?" I ask seeing as he looks a bit peaky.
Remus chews his lip "Erm, no thanks, I didn't bring any money" he says.
I frown "Are you sure?" I say.
He nods but he looks hungry so I buy extra sweets and hand him some chocolate.
"Oh no, you don't need to buy me some" he says.
"Look" I say firmly "just eat it and have as much as you like of mine. No offense, but you look like you need a few square meals".
He laughs "Thanks" and opens the chocolate bar.
"Don't you think it's criminal that first years aren't allowed on the Quidditch team? I mean I've been flying for years and I reckon I could easily be a chaser on the Gryffindor team." I say by way of conversation.
Sirius chuckles "Not cocky at all are we", I grin proudly.
"That is not the limit of my cockiness" I say grinning.
"Like for instance: I think I could make the youngest Minister for Magic ever and then I could go to meetings making important decisions like..." I thought for a minute "making everyone have a class in pranks or making everyone stand on their head and sing 'God save the Queen' once a day and... and I could sip tea in my huge office that's decorated to look like a temple" I finish and look round to see everyone with raised eyebrows.
"Well remind me never to make you Minister for Magic" says Remus laughing and I hit him.
"I think could make an amazing Minister for Magic and the best looking Minister for Magic at least" I strike a dramatic pose again.
Sirius laughs and says "Jamsie, have you looked in the mirror lately?" earning him a punch from me.
"Plus I think I win in the looks department" he carries on cockily "seeing as I'm gorgeous" he adds.
"Well you would be, if it was a troll contest" I say smiling innocently. "Actually I am the best looking here" pipes up Zizi, posing like a model and pouting her lips.
"Calm down children" says Remus popping an Every Flavour bean into his mouth and choking slightly as he realizes it's vomit flavoured.
"Okay, Mum" says Sirius, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Hey! Who made Remmy mum? I want to be mum!" I whine.
Remus looks revolted "Don't call me Remmy" he says.
"No James, Remmy's mum, Zizi is our other mum, I am the good looking older brother and you are the whining two year old" says Sirius, I whack him playfully across the head with my jacket, he snorts and bundles me onto the floor where we end up rolling about laughing. "Wait, wait do I have to be related to you two morons?" says Zizi in mock revulsion.
"I know what you mean" says Remus
. Sirius and I both look at each other evilly "On three" I say "one...two...three" and then we both pulled Remus and Zizi onto the compartment floor and we all ended up laughing like maniacs.
I had a feeling I was going to like my new found friends.
Sirius Black
As the Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade station, James and I had just finished a rather eventful game of Exploding snap in which James, who had already learnt a couple of simple spells, had bewitched my whole pack of cards to explode in my face and later for one of my cards to become wedged up Zizi's nose (rather uncomfortable, I imagine) which made James, Remus and I burst into fits of uncontrollable laughter.
"Firs' years firs' years, o'er here, firs' years" came a loud voice from the end of the platform.
"That's Hagrid" says James "My dad told me about him. Apparently he's a half-giant, but don't let him hear you say that."
Remus, Zizi and I chuckle.
Hagrid leads us to the edge of a huge lake, where dozens of small boats lie low in the water. "Righ' three or four to a boa', tha's it" says Hagrid ushering us to the little boats and James, Zizi, Remus and I pile into the boat.
I wondered if we had to conjure paddles or something but suddenly the boats jolted forward and began to glide slowly across the mirror-like water.
Slowly but surely the huge, looming shape of Hogwarts came into view and there was a definite intake of breath from all us first years.
We're led into a hall and we're met by a severe looking witch in an emerald green robe and pointed green hat.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, I am Professor McGonagall. Now when you walk through these doors you will be led to the sorting hat, where you will wait to be sorted. The hat will be placed on your head and you will be sorted into one of the four Hogwarts houses: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Slytherin. While you are here your house will be like your family, remember that." she says and we all look at her in awe.
James nudges me "Better hope we're not with Old Greasy then eh?" I laugh and nod.
"Boy's and girl's over there, stop whispering" says Professor McGonagall before she leads us through two huge, towering doors into a hall packed with students "This is the Great Hall" Professor McGonagall says simply. James looks surprisingly unimpressed by the ceiling that's decorated to look like the night sky.
We're led up to a small stool on which a shabby old hat sits, "Right" says Professor McGonagall "When I call out your name you will come up to the stool and the hat will be placed on your head, you will then be sorted into your houses".
It seemed like no time before Professor McGonagall called "Black, Sirius".
I try to swallow my fear and swagger confidently up to the hat.
"Ah, another Black." said a voice in his ear "Well I know just what to do with you~"
"No" I thought shortly "I- I want to be different"
"Hmmm, a rebel, well how about- GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled and the table to the right of the hall erupted into cheers.
I grinned and sauntered over and sat down next to a red haired prefect who introduced himself as Arthur Weasley.
I smile charmingly at everyone and turn back to see the red haired girl from the train, Lily Evans get sorted into Gryffindor. I smirked as I saw Greasy glare at Lily who gave an apologetic look and sat down at the Gryffindor table.
I have decided, I hate Greasy and I know exactly why. He would be precisely the kind of son his mother would be proud of and that in itself is a reason to hate him.
Remus, James and Zizi are promptly sorted into Gryffindor and join me at the long house table. Then Dumbledore stands up and says firmly "Tuck in!" and an enormous amount of food appears in front of us.
James and I survey the gorgeous food in front of us, plates of roast potatoes and parsnips, bowls of pasta, plates of pizza, a huge bowl of salad, tall glasses of pumpkin juice, and a whole chicken, I'm in heaven and James has the same look on his face, like a child at Christmas. James and I pile our plates so high I can barely see Remus and Zizi across the table, who look amused as they compare their normal sized portions with our mountains. James and I grin mischievously at each other as we tuck into our huge portions.
After we all mop up our puddings (or for James and I, our third helping of pudding) the plates and food vanish.
Dumbledore stands up again "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts. Now you're all fed and watered (he looks pointedly at James and I, and we grin sheepishly) I shall make some announcements. Firstly, to remind you that the Forbidden Forest is out of bound to all students. All houses will be competing for the house cup again this year which includes the Quidditch cup and I'm sure the captains of the various house teams will schedule tryouts in the upcoming week to allow for plenty of practice before the first game in early October. Mr Filch would like to inform you that duelling in the corridors will earn you a detention and that all Zonko's products are banned from classes. Now I'm sure you all want a good nights rest before your lessons tomorrow so off you go!" he finishes with a flourish.
The Gryffindor prefects, looking overly pompous, start to herd us first years up the stairs.
"Come along, Gryffindors, follow me" says one of them. James, Remus, Zizi and I follow him up the stairs.
"Watch out, the staircases like to move" he says as the staircase gives a sudden jolt and changes direction leading us up to a large portrait of a fat lady dressed in a ridiculously large dress.
"Valiant" says the prefect and the portrait swings open.
"Valiant, bit cheesy really isn't it?" I whisper to Zizi and she sniggers, nodding.
We all file into a cosy room decorated in the red and gold colours of Gryffindor, with a roaring fire in the grate and a couple of squishy armchairs. I suddenly feel at home for the first time in my life.
Zizi Malone
I say goodbye to the boys at the bottom of the girls staircase "Are you sure you don't want me to come and tuck you in?" asks Sirius laughing.
"Pervert!" I yell at him from the top of the staircase and I hear Sirius snigger.
I push open the wooden door and see some girls already sitting on their beds.
"Hello! I'm Alice Prewett. What's your name?" a girl with a round face asks me kindly. "Erm, Zizi Malone" I say holding out my hand and trying to look confident. I recognize Lily from the train, who looks at me hesitantly.
"Er, hi, I think we might have got of on the wrong foot on the train. Lily, right?" I say nervously, I had hoped not to have any arguments yet.
She smiles and say "Yeah, it's okay I hope we can be friends." I feel extremely relieved and I send a friendly smile at her.
"Well I think we should all introduce ourselves" says a girl with long, golden blonde hair. "I'm Marlene McKinnon" she says and looks at Lily "Lily Evans" she says.
"Zizi Malone" I say confidently
"Alice Prewitt" says the round faced girl
"Mary McDonald" says a bubbly looking girl with chestnut waves.
I sit down on my bed and start unpacking my stuff and putting it in drawers.
"So, I saw you with those boys at dinner, are they your brothers?" asked Mary.
"No, they're some friends I met on the train." I answer, Mary raises her eyebrows.
"Who's the one with the shaggy, black hair?" she asked innocently.
"Sirius, Sirius Black" I say "Why?" I ask curiously.
"Oh, no reason" she says hurriedly.
Alice whispers "She fancies him." in my ear and I suppress a groan, that was one thing that would inflate Sirius' ego to the point of no return .
"Did you say Black?" asks Marlene looking interested. "Yeah" I say and her eyes widen "But aren't all the Blacks in Slytherin?" she asks.
I smile "Yeah, he decided to be a bit of a rebel" I say to Marlene and we both wink in Mary's direction and she goes tomato red.
We all snigger, " Looks like Sirius has got himself an admirer" I say laughing.
I snuggle down in my new bed and think about my new found friends. I drop off easily.
.
I wake up early the next morning, the sun was streaming in the dormitory window and I could see dust dancing in the sunlight. Then I realize there's already someone sitting on their bed, brushing their hair: Lily.
"Mornin'" I groan groggily.
"Good morning" she said brightly, and continues brushing her hair.
"What's the time?" I ask.
"7:30" she says "I'm always up early" she explains
"Is the bathroom free?" I ask.
"Yeah" she says. So I quickly grab my new uniform and head to the bathroom to enjoy a nice hot shower.
After my shower I dress in my new uniform, and survey myself in the mirror. The robes are slightly too big for me but it doesn't look that bad. I remember my mum telling me a couple of simple spells so I decide to test one. I successfully cast an untangling spell on my messy hair. I have always liked my hair, it's long, black and always falls into my dark blue eyes. I leave it loose today and, satisfied, I go back into the dormitory to see Lily just leaving.
"I'll meet you down in the common room, then we can go to breakfast" she says and I nod.
I find Lily sitting in one of the squishy armchairs reading a heavy looking book. I wonder wether I should wait for the boys but instinct tells me that they won't be up for a looooong time. So I gently tap Lily on the shoulder "Shall we go?" I ask.
"Yeah okay." she says.
We head out of the portrait hole and try to remember our way down to the Great Hall on the way our talk turned to James, Sirius and Remus. "So do you actually like Potter, Black and Lupin?" asks Lily.
"Well yeah," I say quickly as she raises her eyebrow.
"I know they act like two year olds most of the time, well maybe not Remus, they're funny and easy to get along with" I say, shrugging.
"Yeah, but they're obnoxious, arrogant, big-headed pigs" Lily snaps.
I could see we were never going to agree. "I think James likes you" I point out.
"Argh, he's the worst, he thinks he's so cool and he's completely stuck up" she says sounding extremely frustrated.
I was glad when we got down to the Great Hall, the conversation had become extremely awkward. We took our places at the Gryffindor table and fill our bowls up with cereal. It wasn't long before the boys entered looking still half asleep. They sit down groggily opposite us. James sleepily pulls a plate of bacon towards him, Remus is reading the Daily Prophet with a mixture of disbelief and annoyance, Sirius groans trying desperately to keep his eyes open but fails and falls face first into his toast making James, Remus, Lily and I fall about laughing at the sight of his buttery face.
"My hair," he screams "my beautiful hair!".
"Sirius, stop being a girl and eat that slightly ruined toast" says Remus, ever the sensible one.
"No! Remmy, you can't make him eat that once it's had Sirius' face on it, it'll have died of disgust!" says James which earned him a glass of orange juice in the face from Sirius.
"When you've stopped acting like two year olds and discussing wether Sirius' toast has died, you'll have realized that the post has arrived" I say as I try suppress a snigger at Sirius' hilarious attempts to get the butter out of his "beautiful hair".
James suddenly sees the red letter lying on the table in front of Sirius, my eyes widen "Mate...mate, you...you..." James stammers gesturing to the red letter on the table.
Sirius looks up "Oh merlin, looks like 'Dearest Mother' isn't to happy about me going to Gryffindor" he sighs.
Then the Howler opens:
"SIRIUS ORION BLACK, HOW DARE YOU BE PUT IN GRYFFINDOR! YOU SHAMEFUL, FILTHY PIECE OF SCUM! I DON'T EVEN WANT TO CALL YOU MY SON ANYMORE, YOU HAVE SHAMED THE NOBLE NAME OF BLACK, MAKING FRIENDS WITH MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS. YOU MAKE ME SICK! YOU HAD BETTER BUCK UP YOUR IDEAS YOUNG MAN OR WE'LL BRING YOU STRAIGHT HOME!" and with that it explodes.
"Blah de blah de blah, well everyone, meet my mother, I'm sure she's less than pleased to meet you" says Sirius looking bored.
"Sirius, mate, I'm sorry" says James, looking slightly scared
"Don't worry Jamie boy, that was scary the first time she said it"says Sirius as though getting a Howler was a daily occurrence. I am still slightly stunned but Sirius changes the subject.
"I - still - can't - get - this - butter - out - of - my - beautiful - hair!" he says tugging at his hair. The rest of us didn't find this as funny as the first time but we giggled nervously and I gulped, I couldn't imagine my mum talking to me like that. I see Lily chewing her lip clearly regretting what she said earlier, Remus looks worried and is neglecting his food. In fact, as I look around, no one seems to be eating.
James Potter
I can't stop thinking about Sirius' Howler. By lunchtime everyone seems relatively normal again, but I still can't bring myself to eat.
Sirius casts me a worried look "Eat something James, you haven't eaten anything but a couple of pieces of bacon today" he says.
I don't answer
.
"This is still about that bloody howler isn't it?" he says, I still don't answer.
"Listen, James, I stopped listening to anything my 'Mother' says loooong ago and I know it's kinda difficult to comprehend at first but you get used to it. I never believed in her pure-blood mania and she didn't never acknowledged me as a son. Regulus is the perfect son, I would never fit that bill and I honestly don't care anymore, they can all stuff it" he says viciously "but if you don't eat something soon I'm gonna have to start force feeding you" he finishes grinning.
I smile weakly but I decide I can't be miserable all day "Well if you insist." I say and stuff a whole baguette in my mouth at once.
Sirius claps me on the back "That's my boy" he says affectionately and I grin, my mouth full of baguette.
Zizi looks at me in disgust. "Why do I have to be stuck with these two morons?" she whispers to herself.
"Aw, you love us anyways" I say pinching her cheek.
She feigns surprise and is about to say something but Sirius stuffs a roll in her mouth grinning stupidly.
"So what have we got next?" he asks the table in general.
"Transfiguration" someone squeaks, we all turn to see a rather plump boy with watery blue eyes who's biting his nails.
"Right, er..." says Sirius rather rudely.
"Always the charmer, our Sirius" I say to the boy ruffling Sirius' hair, who scowls at me. "I'm James Potter by the way. And you are?" I ask.
"Peter Pettigrew" he squeaks nervously.
"It's alright, we won't bite, well Sirius will if he's provoked" I say and, Sirius glares at me. "I'll make sure I don't provoke him then" says Peter grinning.
Peter follows us to Transfiguration, which Sirius isn't exactly happy about.
"Is he going to follow us everywhere? He looks like a lost puppy."
"Good. I like puppies."
That seems to be the end of the conversation but Sirius raises an eyebrow at me as Peter takes a seat next to him. Then the lesson starts and it's not long before Sirius gets bored and decides to pass notes:
I'm bored - S
You don't say- J
But I do - S
Good for you - R
Reeemmmmmyyyyyyy - S
Reeeemmmyyy - J
Go away - R
Well aren't you a little bundle of joy - S
Yes - R
... - S
Guys, did you hear what McGonagall said just now - P
No. - J
No - S
No - R
Shock horror! Remus isn't listening! - J
*Faints* - S
You two are complete idiots - R
But extremely loveable idiots - S
No, you're two moronic idiots. - Z
Ziziiiiiiiiiiiiii! - S
Ziziiiii... - J
Hi, Zizi, welcome to the madhouse - R
Hello - P
Awww I'm so loved - Z
Not as loved as me *waggles eyebrows*- S
Wow, self-centred much! But you're probably right, I heard Mary fancies you. - Z
What about me! - J
No one mentioned you - Z
Oh, not even Lily? - J
No - Z
Haha James, I'm already fancied and you're not! By - the - way, who is Mary? - S
The one with the Chestnut hair - Z
She's still not as pretty as Lily - J
James! That's mean, stop insulting my friend! - Z
I thought we were your friends! And James, she is pretty! - S
I can have other friends! - Z
Oooo Sirius luuuuuurves her! - J
Who does Sirius love? - R
Reeemmmy! Where did you go? - J
I was listening - R
Oh, what's listening? And Sirius luurrrves Mary! - J
I do not! - S
He does - J
He does - Z
He does - P
Well, James luuuuurrrves Lily! - S
Yes - J
Oooooo - Z
, Jamsie likey! *Smooching noises* - S
Smooth, Sirius - Z
I know - S
*bell rings*
"Wow, that lesson passed quickly" I hear Sirius say and I nod in agreement.
"Well, that's probably because you weren't listening"says Remus disapprovingly.
"Touche" says Sirius grinning
