Chap 1

"What on earth is wrong with you, Padfoot? You could have effing hurt yourself!"

"And I suppose it is no pleasure to you at all to be graced with my company here-"

"No, I had a lot to do before you got all-"

"Of course then, mate, never trying to bail you out of intense boredom again-"

"Oi! Could the two of you just effing shut your trap for a moment? I'm trying to sneak out of this place and if Pomfrey hears me or what the two of you are up to, we're all toast".

Geraldine- Dina to her friends, of course, who would ever want to carry around the burden of a name like Geraldine, what was mother thinking- was fuming in the backseat of her car while her mother fumed in front. Her father was trying his hardest to dispel all the tension, the poor dear, but he wasn't succeeding so well, and the past hour or so he'd been at the receiving end of a few jibes from either end. He tried again a few minutes later.

"So, Jerry, honey-"

"Dad. You know I don't like to be called that, it's dreadfully common and makes me feel somewhat like a dog."

"Sorry, dear. Just wanted to ask you what you were planning for your courses this semester and what you think about the holidays and our vacation, I really do have to look to find accommodation…"

"Could we stop talking about the holidays for a while, please? I do plan to do a lot this term, so I really don't know when I will be able to make it back home for a vacation in the south of France, or wherever it is-"

"I told you not to ask her again; can't you see? She doesn't want to come home to her parents anymore. It's that awful school, that great big dirty castle she'd rather stay in than come home to go somewhere nice with us. When has she ever cared about what we want?" Her mother had finally turned away from the window. Having delivered this diatribe, however, she went back to staring stonily out of it again, occasionally adding the odd sniffle for dramatic effect.

Oh, well, I suppose it IS only another hour to the station, thought Dina as she settled into her seat. Might as well get comfortable.

"Bye, Dad! Bye, Mum! I'll write, see you soon. Don't forget to say hi to Aunt May for me, and tell her I'll be sending her all the gossip from school!"

Dina hurried off into the steam and the bustle of the student, standing on the tips of her toes to locate her friends, who dammit, she couldn't see anywhere at all with all these immensely tall people crowding her vision and oh dear, was that John, she had hoped to avoid him entirely-

And, whooff, a solid something, quite a lot taller than her and with a considerable number of bags, hit her, as did a subsequent volley of words.

"Dina, you BIG BALL OF DAMNABLE CUTENESS! Where have you been all summer? I have SO much to tell you! Have you seen any of the others yet? I thought I saw Toni, top of a black head and a bow sneaking off somewhere, probably with yet another one of those boys, the never-ending parade truly is quite that- you though, what have you been doing all summer that you didn't reply to most of my mail except with perfunctory replies?" Marlene finally stopped to take a huge breath, and flicked her blonde bangs out of her eyes, and Dina took this chance to break into the monologue.

"Marl, you prat, I did write to you last week. You seemed to have dashed off a vague reply about some pudding or the other your mother was making and you had to rush to finish before someone else got to it. But oh, I've missed you. And there, I see Toni! HEY, we're here!"

Toni headed over to them, glancing back and waving to someone just outside their line of vision. From her smile and the absolute smoothness of her glossy black hair, not a hair out of place, Dina knew something was up.

"So, Toni, who's the new boy then? Something serious?"

"Oh, please. You know me, Dina. I don't do serious. Just a bit of snogging and such. And Marlene, stop with those bangs, you look positively demented, or like a very sweet Pomeranian."

"Oh, well. Then I seem to have achieved what I was setting out for", said Marl, with a grin and a wave, and disappeared into the train with her trunk.

"We'll have to rush, Toni, I really want to get a carriage ourselves, and not sit with those Slytherins like last time, that was incredibly uncomfortable."

"Yes, one of them drew you into an argument, didn't he? You have to admit that he must have been saying something really stupid for you, of all people, to speak up in front of a group of strangers, and strangers from another house, at that."

"It really was. I think he had quite a lot to say about how the best music of the last decade was all-male. What an absolute arse, could hardly let me finish my sentences-"

"Oh, hey, there's Lily! Hold on, Dina, I'll be right back", and Toni had disappeared with a wave into the crowd. Dina could see Lily, though, she was right at the front, valiantly ignoring the admiring looks that prat Potter was throwing at her. She really had to give it to Lily, though. Avoiding a boy that insistent and that popular (read: arse to absolutely everyone but his three buddies) must really take some mettle, and she heard enough from Toni about how entirely annoying Potter could be when he got going. At least they played some good pranks sometimes.

Dina hauled her luggage onto the train, huffing a little. She always had luggage that was just a bit heavier than she could manage, and getting that trunk onto the train was a struggle.

"Hey, hold on, let me help you." There was suddenly a pair of capable looking arms holding up one end of her trunk from inside the train.

Dina brushed her brown hair out of her eyes and looked up to see a pair of kind green eyes looking at her out of a face she knew only too well.

"Oh, hi, Lupin, no it's alright, I'll manage, don't-"

"Don't worry, it's not too heavy, I'm sure we could do it together." And before Dina could protest some more, they had hauled her trunk into the carriage.

"Um, thanks. I wish they would allow…"

"Muggle suitcases, right? They're far easier to carry than these trunks", Lupin stood up and dusted his hands off, looking straight at her. Dina tried not to blush, seriously, what was wrong with her?

"You use Muggle suitcases?"

"Yes, well, my mom is a Muggle, albeit a strange one", he smiled, the edges of his eyes crinkling and settling into unfamiliar lines. Dina had hardly spoken to him before this, and the effect of his eyes combined with that smile was just a little unsettling, and so she looked at his arms, where he'd rolled up his sleeves to assist her. His broad forearms were sprinkled with strange marks and small scars, and before she could ask, he had whipped his arms out of sight and covered them up with his sweater. Come to think of it, she had never seen his arms before either.

"Er, well, I should get going, I guess, um, got to go see my friends", she stuttered.

"Sure, say hi to Lily for me if you run across her!" And he had gone into another compartment, which let off a cloud of strange green smoke when he opened the door.

Shaking her head at the antics of the four Gryffindor boys, Dina headed for an empty coach. She had to find Toni and tell her about the mystery of Remus Lupin's scarred- but very fit- forearms. The knowledge of the green eyes and the crinkling at their edges, though, she decided to keep to herself as entirely unnecessary detail.

"Why, Lily, you absolutely must enlighten us poor virgins all about that fit neighbor of yours. You never said in your letters that he had the most scrumptious body". Dina shook her head yet again. So much for finding peace in this compartment. One would think that Ravenclaws (allowing for one Gryffindor), at least, would have some peace and quiet around, but no, Toni would never let that happen. She settled more comfortably into her corner, grinning into her book, amused at Lil's obvious discomfiture.

"Ah, well, you know, he wasn't all that great… we only shared a few records and met over coffee once-"

"Oh, Lily, you bore. Why don't you ever do more than that? What about you, Dina? Any news over the summer?"

"No, you prat. I already told you. Went on yet another holiday with my parents and if there were any chance of hooking up on that train, believe me, it would have avoided me like the plague. I only ended up taking lots of photographs that I'm planning to develop once we get to school, if this train ever gets there, that is."

"It's all fine, Dina. You know Hogwarts doesn't keep to 'Dina Time'," Lily was getting up and dusting the biscuits off her sweater. "I have to get into my robes. See you all after dinner, bye!"

"Well, I guess that means we should get moving as well. Get your arse off my notebook, Antoinette Ruthers. And where on earth is Marl? I haven't seen her since we got on the train. I do hope she isn't lost somewhere."

"As likely as that would be, I think she's found someone that's taken her interest a little more than her Ravenclaw pals. Now, now, Dina, let's not get all jealous."

A well-aimed Chocolate Frog landed on Toni and bounced off her head.

I'm so glad to be back with these idiots. Now if only we would get to the feast sooner.

By the time they got to the feast, Dina knew why Marl had not made an appearance before. Her face was red and she looked like she'd been crying. Dina and Toni exchanged a look before they ran after her as she disappeared behind a tapestry.

"Hey, Marl, wait, we need to talk to you!"

"Yeah, don't make us run, we're not all fit like all those Quidditch players you lust after-"

Toni gasped. She'd caught up to Marl first and saw the large bruise on her cheek.

"What happened to you, Marl? You disappeared on the train, and now this-"

"Could you just leave me alone right now? Please."

Dina had caught up by now. They appeared to be in an abandoned corridor somewhere on the third floor. She caught Toni and Marlene firmly by the elbows and led them to a classroom. Once they were all sitting, she spoke.

"Marl, this has been happening for a while now. I don't want to ask you what it was this time because I have the same advice for you as the last time, leave that Slytherin bastard and let him rot in whatever depths he likes stewing in. This is getting out of hand."

Marl looked at the two of them, her face still tear-stained. "But he apologized, he, he said he would do better, and it was all fine before I told him I met James over the summer, and he started going off at me about how I could possibly talk to him, and what an inflated head he has, and before I knew it, he was accusing me of going behind his back and snogging James, and I couldn't, I just don't-"

"Oh, Marl." Toni moved forward to hug her. She looked at Dina. They both knew this wasn't the last time they would be comforting their friend over Avery.

That bastard. If there is anyone I could hurt with magic, it would be him. Dina's silent rant to herself was interrupted by Marl again.

She hiccupped before she began and then forced out the next few words. "James, Sirius and Remus turned up while- you know. And they got into a nasty fight. Remus was taken to the hospital wing- o, oh this is all my fault!" And she burst into fresh tears.

Remus Lupin. I'd forgotten about him, and somehow in the flurry on the train, I didn't even mention our chance encounter. I wonder why, and I wonder why a pair of kind eyes is- no, stop. "So… what are we doing about this, then, Toni?"

"Let's speak to the others. That bloody arse is going down."