A/N: What's happening guys?
This'll frustrate a lot of the people who have read my other recent Marauders Era piece, but I didn't like where it was going, or the most recent chapters or... well I didn't like much about it to be honest. So, I decided, after many months of planning and plotting and revision after revision in classes in which I should have been studying (yeah, you guys should never question my dedication to this) I have started writing it again. From the beginning. A lot of my characters have some different traits about them. If you didn't read my other one, that shouldn't bother you, but if you did PRETEND IT NEVER HAPPENED.
Re-introducing Maree Teilor, 5th Year Ravenclaw, and her friends
Alexa Piper, 5th year Ravenclaw
Grace Penthea, 5th year Gryffindor
and Alexis Trivic, 5th year Slytherin.
And for the record, I don't own any of J.K. Rowling's characters, or settings or the Harry Potter universe in general. I only own my own characters that I made up.
Chapter One - First Impressions
Everyone knew Sirius Black. It was near impossible to be in attendance at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and not know Sirius Black - infamous Marauder and devilishly handsome playboy. If you were a member of the female population of Hogwarts it was an exceptionally difficult feat to be able to claim that you didn't know who Sirius Black was and sound believable, which was why it was no surprise that my friends and I were well versed in the scandalous life of Sirius Black - who he was going out with, what he was wearing and occasionally what he had eaten for breakfast. The facts that some of the female members of Hogwarts knew about Sirius Black were terribly scarring for the small minority of students who just didn't give a crap, a minority I was proud to announce that I was a part of.
The fascination that swept through the castle over Sirius' antics was quite sickening to say the least, as some of the girls tore apart the building trying to get just a millimetre closer to the school's resident celebrity. It was these ridiculous girls that I found myself pushing through to make my way towards the scarlet engine that sat waiting as the clocks overhead ticked closer to eleven. I clung to my small shoulder bag as I pushed a group of second years to the side roughly amid shouts of anger and reproach. One of the blasted idiots hissed an insult under their breath and I whirled with my wand out as they hid behind their group of friends.
"Maree!" My head swivelled quickly at the sound of my name and I spotted a bright red-head waving at me over the hordes of rabid fan girls. I stood on my tip-toes and waved at her quickly before grabbing my wand from my back pocket and holding it over my head.
"I'm have a wand and I have no qualms in hexing anyone who stands in my way!" I shouted causing all the terrified younger students who were standing between me and my friend to shuffle out of the road anxiously, creating a direct path towards her which I ran down before running through the gap and flinging my arms around the bemused red-head.
"Lily!" I yelled as I released one of my favourite Gryffindors and held her at arms length, giving her a once over with a huge smile and noticing how she'd grown a bit taller over the holidays before continuing to gush, "I missed you so much! How was your summer?"
"Nowhere near as hectic as this," she responded as she motioned to the girls, "But then again, I've never really seen as many fawning teenage girls as I do at Hogwarts so..."
"I can't believe they've moved all their ridiculous fawning from Hogwarts to here as well," I whined throwing my arms over my head dramatically. Lily giggled at my dramatics as we tried our best to avoid the crowd that was undoubtedly surrounding the infamous Sirius Black.
Lily pushed her trolley a little ahead of us, her owl hooting happily in its cage on top of everything else as we tried to find an available compartment for her to stow her stuff away. She noticed some of the other Gryffindor girls and waved at them, bidding me a quick goodbye as she raced over to put her stuff with theirs. I waved at her retreating back and turned, scanning the top of the crowd for my best friend. I spotted the curly-haired brunette on the other side of the crowd with her family as she was hugging them. I stood on the balls of my feet and cupped my hand around my mouth.
"LEXIE!" I hollered over the crowd and the curly-top turned around, looking for the source of the noise before spotting me and waving. She motioned me over with a wave of her hand before turning back to her family while I was left to contemplate the quickest way to get to her.
I looked to either side of the group before sighing as I decided that straight through would probably be the quickest way to get to my best friend. I looked at the girls in front of me with a scowl and began to push, ignoring the whiny girls that complained as I trod on their feet or pushed then a little too harshly. Some of the girls noticed what was happening and parted politely, others forced me to shove them from my path while cussing under my breath as I was occasionally shoved back by some of my more bitter victims. I looked up to see Alexa was moving in from the other side with a huge grin on her face. As we had nearly reached each other a particularly vicious Gryffindor girl pushed me from behind so that my foot caught someone's trunk and I went sprawling, throwing my hands out in front of myself to break the impact against the concrete. I closed my eyes quickly and hit something hard with a grunt.
It took me a moment to realise that the thing I had hit was not nearly solid enough to have been the concrete ground of platform nine and three quarters. Thinking it was Alexa, I smiled up at my rescuer sheepishly before my eyes snapped open and I noticed the shaggy black hair and grey eyes. I back-pedalled quickly, taking a few steps away from him as if burnt before remembering the malicious fan girls around me that would rip me limb from limb if I got to close for daring to touch their handsome prince. Sirius watched me for a minute before he flung back his black hair and barked a laugh as I dusted myself off quickly.
"Thanks for that," I said looking at Sirius once more, feeling the eyes of the more malicious fan girls burning a hole in the back of my neck, "Sorry for falling on you."
"No problem, I never mind when a pretty girl falls for me," the deep voice of Sirius Black responded in a light tone. My mind was reeling for a moment as my left eyebrow rose in a sceptical gesture, unsure how to respond with the blatant flirting. I'd heard rumours of Sirius' tactics but I'd never encountered him myself, so I decided to play along for a bit. My eyes went wide and a bright smile lit up my face, the change was so quick that Sirius blinked a bit as if to convince himself that he had seen what he thought he saw.
"You think I'm pretty?" I asked with a tint of hope in my voice as I stared into his grey eyes, feeling absolutely ridiculous and realising I probably looked ridiculous from the sound of Alexa's laughter to my left. Sirius grinned cockily and I knew I'd got him. I could see some of the girls out of my peripheral vision glaring more heatedly as Sirius took a step closer to me.
"I definitely think you're pretty," Sirius responded as he moved closer towards me and I smiled before frowning up at his head and he paused in his approach and asked, "What?"
"Well, it's just," I began slowly before swallowing quickly as if I was unsure what I was saying, "Well, I don't think the pink in your hair suits you."
"P-pink?" Sirius stuttered as he turned away from me and yelled, "Prongs! Why is there pink in my hair?"
I saw my opportunity and fought the urge to burst out laughing as I grabbed Alexa from the mass of girls who looked ready to tear me apart, stood at an edge of the crowd and withdrew my wand pointing it at the lingering fans repeating my earlier threat. The girls parted quickly to let us through, with Alexa still chortling on my arm when we exited the other side of the group, hearing two angry teenage boys yelling from its centre. Alexa took a few deep breaths as she collected herself and straightened, before glancing over at me and breaking down in laughter all over again.
"Alexa! Maree! Over here!"
We turned together as one to see a girl with her head out of one of the train's windows waving us over, her long, hazelnut-brown hair swaying with each gesture of her hand. We smiled at each other and walked in her direction waving back brightly, She pulled her head back into the train and we found an entrance nearby and walked over to the compartment she'd been in. I ran into the compartment and hugged my other friend tightly, noticing my trunk was already in one of the overhead racks next to Alexa's.
"Hey Gracie!" I greeted as I pulled away and we both smiled at each other before she turned to hug Alexa as well and I noticed my last friend sitting in the corner with her light-brown hair tucked behind her ears as she poured over her potions textbook before I skipped over and hugged her as well crying out, "Alexis!"
Alexis grunted as I hugged her tightly before pulling away, poking my tongue out as she glared playfully at me. Alexa waved at Alexis and greeted her quietly before settling into her usual spot near the compartment door. I flounced across the compartment and lounged in the seat opposite Alexis, staring out the window at the platform as the whistle sounded overhead. The noise in the train increased as everyone piled off the platform and onto the steam engine. The noise down our end of the train was minimal as most people avoided sitting at the far end of the train, we loved it down here. I glanced around when I noticed someone missing, a certain red-headed Gryffindor who usually spent at least the first part of her trip with us.
"Hey guys, where's Lily?" I asked as I looked out the window to the platform for the fiery red-head before turning to my friends with a questioning gaze. Gracie shrugged and Alexis raised her hands palm up in confusion. Alexa sat in her spot thoughtfully before smiling around at us as if the answer was obvious.
"She'll be in the prefect's compartment, I'd bet my wand on it," Alexa stated smugly and I smacked my palm against my forehead with a smile.
"No duh! She'll have made prefect for sure! Five galleons that Lupin is the male Gryffindor prefect!" I said loudly, jumping out of my seat in excitement. Alexis started to laugh as Grace jumped out of the seat diagonal from me and shook my hand.
"I'll challenge that and bet on James, Dumbledore's got a weird sense of humour like that," Gracie responded as we stood holding each other's gaze with wide smiles on our faces as Alexa sighed from behind me. We released each other's hands and sat down quickly, giving each other smug smiles as if we'd already won the bet.
"You guys are utter morons," Alexa commented in a low voice and I flung my arm around her shoulder.
"Yeah, but utter morons that you couldn't live without," I responded poking my tongue out at her. She smiled and I threw my hands up in the air in victory, yelling my accomplishment at the top of my lungs. Alexa grabbed my arms and pulled them down, her cheeks turning red as she noticed the people staring in the corridor. I waved them along as Alexa tried to change the topic.
"So," Alexa began, "How was everyone's holida-?"
She was cut off as a pale, blonde girl with large blue eyes entered the compartment, slamming the door in the frame as she rushed towards Alexa and me. We smiled kindly at the girl as we noticed the little blue 'P' on her chest that indicated that she was our new prefect. Her name was Carla Mason; she was a nice girl who tried her best to get along with everyone and maintain the best grades possible. One of the friendliest girls in all of Ravenclaw Tower, but also one of Sirius Black's biggest fans and the main source of all our Marauder-related gossip.
"Oh my merlin guys, you'll never believe what just happened on the platform," She began, choosing to ignore Grace and Alexis and sitting in between us as she continued to gush, "Some girl pretended to fall on Sirius so she could grope him and then told him he had pink hair to distract him so she could make her escape into the crowd! How scandalous right? I wonder who would do such a thing."
"Me too," I said thoughtfully, trying my best to resist the massive urge I had to burst out laughing as Alexa snorted on Carla's other side causing Carla to send her a scandalised look before turning to me as I made my best to put on a serious face.
"And that's not even the best part!" Carla insisted, trying to implore that her information wasn't laughable.
"I didn't think it would be," I agreed in a bright tone, "What did this mystery girl do next? Don't tell me she went off and groped the other Marauders afterwards?" I heard Alexa giggling on Carla's other side as the prefect in between us and Carla even giggled a little herself before she continued.
"No! Though that may have been her plan," Carla added thoughtfully before shaking her head and returning to the topic at hand, "But anyway, apparently Sirius is trying to find this girl right now. I wonder what he'd want with a whore like her."
Alexa snorted and I reached around Carla to slap her across the back of the head as Mason looked between the pair of us with a satisfied smirk.
"I just wanted to be the first to let you guys know," Carla said with a smile as she got out of her seat and walked to the door before adding, "Tell me if you hear anything won't you?"
With a cheerful wave on her departure she headed off down the hall and Alexa buckled over in her seat in laughter as Grace and Alexis looked at us in confusion. I snorted, seeing the looks on their faces was too much and I was buckled over in laughter too. A minute later I was taking deep calming breaths as I sat up in my seat and wiped some tears from my eyes. I held up a finger to indicate that I wanted them to wait as I took some deep breaths to calm myself before turning back to my two other friends.
"Well, I'm glad she still considers us a part of the loop," I giggled looking at Alexa, "That was the most entertaining rendition of my antics that I've heard in a long time. And for the record, I did not cop a feel on Sirius Black."
"It did kinda look like it though," Alexa inserted with a smirk.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence there Lexie, real nice of you," I said with a grin.
"I'm confused," Gracie admitted as she grabbed her head to try to stop it from spinning as Alexis nodded at her side. I smiled at my three friends and launched into a quick recount of the morning's events as the train rattled away beneath us. As soon as I finished, Alexis and Grace were laughing along with Alexa and I. The three of us sat there laughing for quite a while before I sobered up a little and tried to regain control of my breathing, Alexa making the same attempt at my side.
"I can't believe," Grace puffed out in between laughs, "That you - did - that."
"I can," Alexis grinned, offering her hand for a high five which I returned with a good laugh.
"I'm actually kinda surprised that she didn't charm his hair pink then and there," Alexa admitted as she laughed along with the others, "Could you imagine his face?"
Alexa tried her best to contort her face to the way she imagined Sirius would have looked if his hair had actually turned pink and we all started to laugh ecstatically at the idea of Sirius Black being felled by his hair changing colour. It wasn't that we didn't like Sirius Black, we just didn't see the huge fuss that a man-whore such as himself represented.
"I'm gonna go see Severus and give him back his Potions notes so I don't have to bother later, I'll be right back, alright guys?" I said as I leaned over to retrieve the scrolls from my shoulder bag, got up and moved to the door, turning in the doorway to look at my friends one more time, "Be back in a few, yeah?"
"Want some company?" Alexa asked, already getting up but I shook my head.
"Nah, I know you don't want to have to deal with a pain like Severus on the train ride back, I'll be right," I responded before closing the door behind me and heading towards the front of the train so as to avoid arguing the point. I glanced over my shoulder to make sure that she hadn't gotten up and followed me anyway before smiling to myself in silent victory.
As I moved down the train I glanced into each compartment, smiling kindly at the people I knew and liked and sending rude gestures to those I didn't. I struggled to maintain my balance as each step threatened to send me rocketing forwards, spending a lot of my time with a hand firmly planted on the wall of the passageway. Each time I moved carriages I tried my hardest not to think of the ground passing quickly beneath me as my mahogany locks were blown into my face, but on more than one occasion I accidentally glanced down and ran into the next carriage without glancing back.
As I approached the front of the train I began to recognise more Slytherin students and smiled as I realised I was in the right place. I glanced into each compartment a bit quicker now, not wanting to gather the attention of any of the nastier Slytherins in their own territory. It would be a move I would sorely regret. I was almost at the end of the train when a voice behind me caused me to turn around.
"Teilor? What are you doing here?" I locked eyes with a thin boy with oily black hair standing a few metres behind me and smiled, holding up the scrolls in my hand so that he could see them. He raised an eyebrow as he smirked victoriously, obviously believing he had caught me in a trap.
"I never gave you any notes," he stated and I smirked back at him, moving closer.
"No, you didn't," I conceded, but I still held the notes out to him with a smile, "Lily did. She told me your notes were far better than her own. She also gave me strict rules as to how I was supposed to look after your notes, which I followed to the 'T' so they're in the same condition that they were in when I received them from Lily - not that you'll believe me, should you find anything wrong with them. But, there you go, thanks for the notes."
It took me a few steps to reach him, but I pushed the parchment into his hand and moved to leave when he stepped into my path with an enquiring look on his face so I retreated a step and waited with an eyebrow raised. When he didn't immediately explain himself I sighed and crossed my arms, deciding to prompt answers from the boy myself.
"Yes, Severus?" I asked as I began to tap my foot petulantly, leaning subtly against the wall to keep balanced in the blasted rickety train. Severus opened his mouth to reply when he was cut off by a deep voice from behind him.
"Well, well, look what we have here. What's a pretty lady like you doing with this oily grease-bag?"
I groaned and cursed my pitiful luck as a smile slid onto my face and I said, "Well, if it isn't Sirius Black. If you hadn't noticed I was in the middle of a conversation with one of my friends," I chose to particularly enunciate the word friend to annoy him before turning my attention back to Severus, "You were saying Severus?"
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you didn't like me," Sirius barked a laugh and my eyebrow arched at his arrogance, trying my hardest not to scowl in revulsion as I was hit on by Sirius Black.
"And what makes you think I do?" I responded, barely glancing away from Severus, "If you don't need anything, either of you that is, I'll be returning to my friends."
I waited only a moment to see if either of them would respond and when Sirius opened his mouth I smiled curtly and pushed past them both to get to the other end of the train. It took only a few glances into various compartments at the gawking teenage girls to notice that Sirius Black had followed me. I groaned and stopped abruptly jolting forward a little when he ran into me before glancing over my shoulder and sighing.
"Is there something I can help you with Black? My friends are waiting for me," I asked as I turned myself to face the boy. He was at least a head taller than me, and looked down at me with a cheeky grin.
"You totally like me," Sirius said and I rolled my eyes.
"Did you run into me a little too hard Black?" I asked in exasperation, "Or are you always this delusional?"
"It's so obvious," he responded, taking a step closer to me and causing me to take a step back, "How could a pretty girl like you not fall for a handsome guy such as me. Don't fight it love, I know your type."
"Oh you do, do you?" I asked sharply, raising my eyebrow and crossing my arms, "And, pray tell, what is my type? Because you're not it."
Sirius paused for a moment and I took that moment to turn on my heel and proceed to the next carriage, closing the door sharply behind me and stalking away quickly. I heard his footsteps behind me before I felt his hand on my shoulder as he turned me around, that cocky grin still plastered across his face.
"I'm every girl's type," Sirius responded arrogantly, I scoffed and shrugged away from his hand.
"Clearly not every girl's," I pointed out as I walked away from him again. Moments later I heard a yell from behind me as I reached the door leading to my carriage.
"I bet you I can make you fall for me!"
I turned, my thoughts racing as I processed the comment. A part of me realised that he just wanted the pride of saying he had caught another girl who wasn't interested - merlin knows how many of those he'd managed - but another part of me caused me to smirk as my grey eyes met his.
"You can try," I replied, "Ten galleons says you can't."
He smirked and nodded, agreeing to my terms and I smiled, calling out to him, "Pleasure doing business with you Black!"
I turned my head on the dark-haired playboy, opening the door between this carriage and the next, and stepping over the threshold, snapping the door closed on the persistent Gryffindor, quietly laughing to myself as I entered the next carriage and made my way towards my own compartment before bursting into a fit of laughter. Alexa looked up from the muggle novel on her lap and raised a questioning eyebrow at me as I took a few deep breaths before recounting what had just happened with a wide smile.
"- and the best part was he didn't even ask my name or my house or anything! He literally has no idea who I am except for what I look like," I finished with a wide smile at Alexa as I sunk into my seat near the window. Alexis and Grace grinned at me for a moment before returning to their game of Wizard's Chess as Alexis made her final move against Grace before turning her full attention to me.
"I bet that he does make you fall for him," Alexis said with a small grin, "Two galleons."
"You're totally on!" I yelled, offering her my hand, "I can't believe my own friend's doubting me."
"I'm not underestimating you Maree," Alexis replied as her grin grew, "I just don't believe in underestimating my opponents."
"You're talking like I'm going to war," I mumbled as I crossed my arms and sank into my chair petulantly.
"Well, with the amount of fan girls that'll want to destroy you for potentially monopolising their idol's time, you pretty much are," Alexa reasoned and my face fell.
"I forgot about them," I said, paling and lowering my head into my hands.
"Well, it should be interesting at least," Grace said with a small smile as she looked up at us, "I personally can't wait to see what happens."
The part of me that had agreed to this challenge sided with Grace but the other part of me, the smart part that had told me to walk away, was screaming in terror at the mess I'd gotten myself into. Life at Hogwarts had always being interesting and chaotic, but with the mess I'd gotten myself into this year, I could sense that the time was only going to be filled with mayhem. It was safe to say that this year at least, I wouldn't suffer a dull moment in those walls.
So there you have it. Meddling in Mayhem. The re-write of Marauder Madness. I hope that I can be better with this then I was with Marauder Madness, but soon I'll have plenty of time free to dedicate to this so, I think I'll be fine. Reviews would be appreciated.