Disclaimer: I own nothing but Belinda Anderson and my plot line. Everything else belongs to J.K. Rowling.
This is my first fanfiction. Tell me if you like it! :)
Belinda leaned back in her chair her eyes were starting to droop. The humming of the train was making her drowsy as she waited for her friends who were busy tracking down the food trolley. She decided to close her eyes and take a short nap before they got to Hogwarts so that she could be well rested and alert for the sorting ceremony. As she started to slip away into the land of dreams, she heard her name being called by a bright, cheerful, annoying voice.
"Belinda! Belinda!" A male voice filled the compartment.
Next to the source of the noise, a female voice chimed in, "Do you think she's asleep Sirius? Maybe we should let her rest."
Yes! That's right Belinda thought. Let me rest and I'll be awake later.
"I'm sure that she's awake," boomed the loud voice again, obviously Sirius, "Belinda? Can you hear me? I'm giving you to the count of ten to wake up; otherwise, I am going to tickle you until we get to Hogwarts. One, two, three four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, nine and a half, nine and a quarter..."
"Padfoot," another voice drawled from across the compartment. "Nine and a quarter comes before nine and a half."
"Does it?" Came the response.
Belinda cracked open her eyes. She saw a circle of people staring at her from various seats in the cramped space. Remus was opposite her reading a book while Lily sat next to him trying to read over his shoulder. James was next to Lily, of course, while Sirius sat next to Belinda, his grey eyes staring at her as she glanced around the compartment. Peter sat next to Sirius. A plump boy with mousy hair and a fearful expression on his face, Belinda had no idea why the Marauders hung around him.
"We just got back from the prefects meeting." Lily explained to Belinda gesturing to herself and Remus. Belinda nodded in understanding and turned her head to look out the window.
After a few minutes, Belinda stood up and reached into the overhead compartment grabbing her bag, which was next to her trunk and pulling it down so that she could reach into it. She pulled out her book, stowed her bag back above her head and settled down to read.
She had just finished the third page of her book when it was taken by the boy sitting next to her.
"Sirius! Give me my book back!" Belinda said reaching for the book and frowning when he stood up, holding it high, out of her reach. Standing up, Sirius was easily taller than Belinda, who only stood at about his chest. He grinned at her, his grey eyes twinkling mischievously.
"What is this book?" He commented staring at the cover and flipping it over, "you're reading Romeo and Juliet? Haven't you read that like, three times already?"
"Six." Remus commented lazily from his seat as Lily continued to struggle to read over his shoulder.
"Then you don't need to read it right now." Sirius said smugly. "You can play with Prongs and I. We want to play Exploding Snap. How 'bout a few rounds?"
Belinda shrugged. "Sure, why not?" She responded, "Do you have the deck?"
"I have it in my trunk," James cut in standing and reaching for his trunk. As he hoisted in down, Belinda and Sirius helped him lay it in the foot area of the compartment. James dug through his trunk, pushing aside clothing and Zonko's products.
"Ha!" James gave a triumphant cry, "got it!"
Sirius waggled his eyebrows, "Lets play."
Belinda smiled serenely as she watched the scenery fly past the train window. Next to her, Sirius sat quietly, every few seconds, reaching up to feel his non-existent eyebrows which were singed off from the game of Exploding Snap.
"James..." Sirius whined, "My eyebrows aren't growing back!"
James looked up. "Well, it was your fault in the first place for one, wanting to play Exploding Snap, and two, playing with Belinda."
Sirius just pouted and the compartment fell silent again.
Soon, the sun was just visible over the trees and the Hogwarts castle was growing bigger and bigger in the distance. Lily spoke for the first time during the train ride.
"We should change into our robes since we'll arrive soon. Belle, are you coming?"
Belinda nodded and grabbed her robes following Lily through the sliding glass door. Remus was the first of the boys to rise and begin to search through his stuff for his Hogwarts uniform. James and Sirius followed his example and then, once the three of them were changed, they shook Peter awake, telling him to change quickly.
Belinda followed Lily down the narrow hallway in the train down to the end of the train car where the bathrooms were located. Thankfully, everyone had changed early and the bathrooms were completely empty.
"Belle!" Lily squealed, "I am so excited for this year! It is going to be so great!"
Belinda glanced at her, "Why? Is this the year you're going to go out with James?"
"Ewww! Never." Lily vowed, looking aggravated. "He is such a jerk, he pranks way to often and he bullies everyone. Never in a million years would I ever, ever go out with James Potter."
Belinda rolled her eyes at her friend's antics. "Come on, we're taking way to long to change." She replied as she fixed her tie looking in the girl's mirror.
Lily opened the stall and stepped out. "I just have to fix my make up." She said, laughing as Belinda tried to drag her out of the bathroom. "Give me two minutes and then we can go see the lovely Marauders," She said sarcastically.
As Lily added mascara, eyeliner and lip-gloss, Belinda tapped her foot impatiently on the marble floor.
"Done!" Lily announced as she finished the final touches on her eyes. Belinda pulled Lily out the door and past more compartments until they reached their number and climbed back inside.
Sirius now lay sprawled across three seats while Remus, Peter, and James occupied the other side.
"Why hello ladies," Sirius said grinning cheekily at them. "Why don't you sit down?"
"Gladly." Said Lily, plopping down on his shins, leaving Belinda to take his lap. As Belinda sat down, James looked up from a piece of parchment and said, "Evans! You disappoint me! Why won't you ever sit on my lap?"
Lily just rolled her eyes and turned to look at the little platform, which was coming closer and closer. The train began to slowly screech to a halt and students began to crowd into the halls of the train, getting ready to get off the train. Belle, James, Sirius, Remus, Lily and Peter filed into the narrow passage until they reached the entrance of the train. They stepped off the train and follower the mob of people towards the carriages. Lily and Belle walked towards the front while the Marauders hung back talking in low voices. Belinda fidgeted nervously with her long brown hair as they walked slowly with the other students.
"Come on!" Lily urged Belle "We need to get a carriage so we can get a good seat in the Great Hall!"
Belle quickened her pace and they quickly claimed the next carriage that rolled by. Just as the carriage was about to move, the four infamous Marauders clambered in too.
"Oh dear," Sirius said with mock concern, "There isn't enough room for all of us. Looks like some people will have to sit laps." He grinned at James and continued, "Lily, why don't you sit on James, while lovely Belinda sits on..."
Lily cut him off by accidentally stepping on his foot as she moved toward James. She paused and then, looking apologetically at Remus, sat on Remus. James shot his best death glare at Remus who sighed and leaned back in his seat looking to tired to argue. Belinda glared at Lily too. "I was going to sit on Remus."
Lily looked at her cheerfully. "Sorry Belle! I got there first."
"Why does everyone want to sit on Remus?" James questioned looking at the two girls.
"Because he is polite, kind, smart, and just an all around nice person." Lily replied looking at James and smirking.
As James opened his mouth so respond, the carriage stopped sharply, throwing Lily of Remus' lap and on to James.
"You know," James began, despite all the gestures for him to stay silent from Belle, "if you wanted me, all you had to do was ask. There's no need to throw yourself at me!"
Lily pushed herself up and glared. "You arrogant... cocky jerk!" She growled as flounced out of the carriage and started toward the school.
"Did I do something wrong?" James asked stupidly when he saw his friends looking at him.
Shaking their heads, they dragged James along with them and toward the Great Hall.
"Dig in!" Dumbledore announced from his golden seat at the staff table. Sirius grabbed food off the platters that appeared and began to shove as many things as he could fit in his mouth. James and Peter copied him. Remus just shook his head as he helped himself to some mashed potatoes and chicken.
Lily sat next to Belinda, both eating and talking eagerly with the girls around them.
"Lily!" Marlene exclaimed, "You're a prefect!"
Lily blushed and smiled, "I am so excited!"
Alice chimed in "Lily, Amos Diggory is staring at you!"
Lily's head turned slowly towards the Hufflepuff table. Amos grinned at her and winked. From a few seats down, James clenched his hands and glared at Diggory.
"We need to prank him." James snarled, never taking his eyes of Diggory. Remus raised an eyebrow.
"Just because he looks at Lily, doesn't mean you have to go after him."
"He winked- He bloody winked at her!" James snarled stabbing his fork into the chocolate cake that had just appeared in front of him. Sirius just sighed while James continued to rant about Amos Diggory.
"He isn't even that good-looking!' James continued, ignoring the stares from the people around him.
"Calm down, finish your food, and lets get you to bed." Sirius advised his friends looking at his disheveled appearance.
James nodded and the four boys stood and exited the Great Hall and made their way up to the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Password?" She asked when they reached the entrance to the common room.
"Fairy Lights," Remus said confidently and the portrait swung open to reveal the common room, just as they had left it the year before.
"Looks like there are some perks of having a friend be a prefect." Sirius joked as they walked up the stairs and into their old dormitory.
Remus sat on his bed and looked around him. He had set up his nightstand the way he liked it, a picture of his parents, a clock, a pencil and some books. He had hung a few posters of quidditch players, but not nearly as many as James. He neatly set his trunk by the foot of his bed and opened it to move all his clothing into his dresser. Along with the posters, on his wall also hung a lunar calendar. He shuddered as noticed that the full moon was in a few days. Remus hung his cloaks in the closet that he shared with his friends and went into the bathroom to set out his toothbrush and other toiletries. He passed the empty bed of the boy who used to room with them. He smiled as he remembered how annoyed the other boy used to get with James' pranks. The bed was now empty because of the poison ivy prank. After that, the boy had gotten so fed up with the four of them that he moved and transferred schools, probably to Durmstrang. Now, they used the bed to lay out new pranking material. He changed quickly into a pair of boxers and an old shirt, brushed his teeth and lay down on his bed to read before he went to sleep.
In the bed next to him, Sirius was restless. He was tense. Sirius had already unpacked and set out everything he needed, decorated his bunk, and thought of ideas for pranks. He wanted some action. He lifted the curtain from around his bed and looked at the three beds belonging to his friends. Remus was reading while Peter had fallen asleep already. James was still putting things away. He looked at Remus and sighed, spotting the lunar calendar. He wished he could help Moony on the nights of his transformation. He knew that they were going to learn more about werewolves this year. Maybe he could find something to help his friend through all the pain he went through.
James lay awake even after all the other boys in the dorm had fallen asleep. He couldn't stop thinking about Lily. He wondered if she was asleep yet. She was always calling him names and getting angry with him. Maybe this year would be different. He wanted to change, honestly, he did, but whenever he saw Snape, his control just slipped away. He knew he was going to have to control himself if he wanted to get her this year. He just didn't know how yet.
Please review so I know if you like it or not!
5 reviews and I will update faster!