Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own anything of J.K. Rowling's. I've been wanting to start this fanfic for a while, but thought if I did I wouldn't finish my other one. So if you read&review this one, please check out my Harry/OC fic "Behind Enemy Lines". Anyway, enjoy & see you at the bottom!

"Rory!" called a voice, muffled by the closed door.

Knock knock knock!

"Wake up! We've got to get to King's Cross!"

"I'll be right there!" claimed the seventeen-year-old witch, head burried in her pillow.

"Better be," said her older brother, Mason, before walking off.

No, it wasn't September 1st, to Rory's dismay. She was only a sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, returning back to the castle now that the Christmas holiday was over and the new year had finally arrived. Mason was only a year ahead of her and Head Boy. She hadn't been a prefect in her fifth year as Mason had, and she certainly wasn't going on to become Head Girl next year. Mason constantly overshadowed Rory's grades, but she was glad to at least outshine her younger brother, Drew, who was only in his fourth year.

"Rory, you're still not up!" called Mason from outside the door.

"Five more minutes!" she pleaded.

"Alright, fine," he reluctantly agreed. "Five more. But that's it!"

Yes, the three Hart children lived alone. Their Muggle-born mother, Violet, and pureblood father, Thomas, had divorced a short time after Drew was born. Thomas never to be heard from again, Violet cared for all three children until she passed away of dragon pox in Rory's fourth year. Luckily, she and her brothers were able to survive off their parents' fortune for this long, being that there was no other family to take them in. Mason, being that he would be graduating next year, was already practically guaranteed a job as a Healer at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, considering he received the required N.E.W.T.s.

"Rory!"

Knock knock knock!

"It's been five minutes! Let's go!"

Rory groaned, lifting her head from underneath the pillow. "Is Drew up yet?"

Mason sighed heavily before stomping off undoubtedly to Drew's room. Rory detected the same pounding on his door as she had on her's and assumed Drew had also begged for five more minutes when Mason thumped down the stairs.

Rory did, however, stagger out of bed and cross the room to her drawers, dressing herself in a pair of tight dark jeans and Drew's Puddlemere United t-shirt to hug her thin frame.

Not only was Rory skinny, but a tad on the short side. Her auburn hair, caught somewhere between red and brown, was relatively short and layered, as opposed to her brothers who both had brown hair. Although Rory and Drew both shared the same shade of warm brown eyes whereas Mason possessed a set of icy blue. But as if the near-red hair wasn't enough to set her apart, Rory also had a small gap in her teeth, though she didn't mind it. In fact, her best friends — the Marauders — claimed to love it.

"Rory! You'd better be up!" called Mason once again. "Drew is!"

"Yeah, I'll be out in a second!"

The Marauders…how to explain a frienship like Rory and the Marauders? James Potter was practically like another brother. Sirius Black — though quite the git at times — was…well…really always a git, but he was always good for a laugh, when he wasn't busy as the playboy of Hogwarts. Peter Pettigrew was shy but definitely trustworthy. But Rory's real safe was her werewolf best mate and crush since third year, Remus Lupin. It was just a shame that an attractive bookworm like Remus would never have feelings for the obnoxiously loud and hyper prankster that was…

"Amadora Lynn Hart!" yelled Mason. "If you're not ready by the time I count to five, you'll be — !"

Rory wrenched open her bedroom door, swiftly pulling her wand from her back jean pocket and directing it at her older brother.

"Don't — call — me — Amadora," she warned menacingly, lowering her wand.

Mason smirked. "You're just jealous that Drew and I have normal names."

Rory simply rolled her eyes, pushing passed her brother and returning her wand to her back pocket.

"Speaking of which, where is the little bugger?" she asked as the two descended down the stairs.

"I resent that!" Drew's voice rang out from the kitchen. The two turned the corner and saw him devouring a stack of pancakes.

"Why does he get breakfast?" whined Rory.

"I actually get up on time," Drew said smuggly, casting his tongue out at his older sister who scrunched her face and did the same.

"I did wake up on time," protested Rory defensively, hopping onto the counter and peeling back a banana. "Besides, we're just Apparating."

"Technically, I'll be doing the Apparating," Mason corrected.

"Wheryoutalking'bout?" said Rory, her cheeks full of banana. "IkinApparate!"

"He means without splinching," Drew said cheekily.

Rory sent a glare towards her younger brother.

"You don't even have your lisence yet," added Mason.

"Buttiveseentheclasslassyear —" she struggled to say through the last bite.

"Rory, swallow," he demanded; she did.

"I've seen the class," she retorted. "The Marauders and I practically took it last year!"

"That may be, but —"

"And I'm of age!"

"But you still don't have a lisence, which makes it illegal for you to Apparate," Mason explained calmly.

"Fine then, let's go," Rory huffed, hopping off the counter.

"Who's got the trunks?" asked Drew.

"I do!" she brightly volunteered, Mason rolling his eyes as she whipped out her wand. "Locomotor Trunk!"

All three came floating down the stairs, one after another, and landed by the front door.

"Rory, you're —"

"— of age to do magic outside of school," she cut him off, giving Drew a high-five.

Mason simply rolled his eyes again and grabbed hold of his trunk, his younger siblings now doing the same, all interlocking arms.

"Ready?" asked Mason.

"Wait!" Rory shouted, releasing his hand and pulling out her wand again. "Accio Pancake!"

Drew chuckled as the pancake flew directly to Rory's mouth, who tucked her wand away for the third time that morning and linked her arm with Mason's.

"Don't make me take away your wand, Rory," he threatened.

"Honestly, Mason, get your boxers out of a bunch," she advised. "I just didn't want your food going to waste, brother dearest."

Drew laughed at his sister once again.

"Oh, please don't encourage her, Drew," he said, a smile detected in his tone.

And with that, the three had turned on the spot, emitting a faint POP and were launched through the sensation of Apparation.

"Ugh, I despise Apparating!" complained Drew, fingers pressed to his temples. "If I wanted to be forced through a tube, I'd've spent last summer on waterslides."

They all now stood on Platform 9¾, the large red steam engine that was the Hogwarts Express sitting patiently on the tracks.

"I don't care much for it, either," admitted Mason.

"What the bloody hell's a waterslide?" Rory asked. The two brothers exchanged an amused expression. "It's a Muggle thing, isn't it?"

"You'd know if you took Muggle Studies," Mason told her simply.

"It's got to be the easiest class," added Drew. "Besides Divination."

Mason and Rory both groaned.

"That's where I disagree, little brother," said Mason. "I never drop a class, but that woman's off her rocker."

"Merlin knew I was never going to get an O.W.L. in that class," Rory commented.

"Drew!" called a male voice from nearby. They all turned in its direction to see fourth year, Nathan Coyle, striding up to them.

"Hey, Nate!" Drew greeted his best mate.

Nathan then turned to Mason and the two exchanged a quick "Hello" before he turned to Rory.

"Er — h-hi, Rory," said Nathan shyly.

"Hi, Nathan." She smiled.

It had been established back in Rory's fourth year that Nathan had developed a crush on her, maintaining it all this time. But he had never been quite so nervous around her before. Then again, you would be too had you walked in on your best mate's sister changing while you were spending time at his house over the holidays.

"Drew," said Nathan enthusiastically. "Theo's waiting in our compartment and he's got one of those Muggle radios!"

He didn't need to explain anything more before both he and Drew were racing onto the Hogwarts Express with their trunks.

"Well," Rory turned to Mason. "I guess it's just you and —"

"Rory!" a female voice called through the crowd of students that began to board the train.

"Lily," Mason finished with a smile.

Sure enough, striding over to the pair was the sixth year prefect, and oddly enough one of Rory's best and closest mates, Lily Evans. This green-eyed redhead had not only stolen the title of Head Girl already, but stolen the heart of James Potter, though she claims she can't stand him.

"Lily!" exclaimed Rory, the two girls pulling apart from a hug. "Where's — ?"

"Rory! Lily!" squealed another voice. The third of the trio — a brown-eyed girl with short, black, pixie-like hair — Alice Perrett, was making her way over.

"Alice!" They said in unison, the three now sharing an embrace.

"Well, c'mon, Lily," Alice urged. "We'd better steal Rory while we still can. I haven't seen any sign of those kidnapping Marauders, yet."

"They're as much kidnappers as you two are," Rory shot back teasingly.

"The more time we've got away from Potter and Black the better," said Lily.

So the three made their way onto the train and stowed away their luggage above their compartment. It was when Lily and Alice began chattering that Rory focused her attention out the window to find Mason helping his girlfriend since sixth year, Tara Curtis, with her trunk. They made the cutest couple in Rory's opinion, and nearly everyone else's. She was a Ravenclaw and Head Girl — in a nutshell, she was the female version of Mason.

"If Mason wasn't so brave he'd've been in Ravenclaw," Rory voiced her thoughts to the two girls whose eyes glanced out the window.

"They're so adorable," Lily commented as the couple shared a quick kiss before boarding.

"Are they married yet?" asked Alice impatiently.

"Not yet, but they will be," Rory affirmed. "Mason says he just needs to wait 'till Drew and I are old enough to live on our own. He doesn't want to leave us unprotected."

"And Tara's alright with waiting?" Lily asked, impressed.

Rory nodded.

That was all it took before both Lily and Alice released a simultaneous 'Awww'.

"Yeah, I know it's cute and all," said Rory. "but I feel so guilty."

"Guilty?" Alice repeated, confused.

"It's nothing, we don't have to talk about this," insisted Rory.

"Well, of course we do!" said Lily. "What else are we going to discuss? We've already owled one another about our holidays."

"Alright, well, it's just that Mason's been having to make all kinds of sacrifices for me and Drew," she explained. "First he becomes the parent at only fifteen, mind you, now he's got to wait to marry Tara…"

"Rory," Alice began sympathetically. "Mason didn't have to do any of that."

"Alice is right," agreed Lily. "And I'm sure if you asked him he'd say the same thing."

"Well of course he would!" said Rory, growing exasperated. "He also wouldn't want me feeling guilty!"

Alice dropped her head onto Rory's shoulder and Lily reached out to place a hand on her knee.

"It's really not that bad," she insisted. "And what's a few more years before marriage really going to do?"

Rory smiled at the two girls, both shooting to an upright position as the train jerked forward and began to leave King's Cross Station.

"See," said Alice. "your smile starts up the train."

The girls started laughing when who should appear at their compartment door but none other than Sirius Black.

"And my heart," teased Sirius, grey eyes locked on Rory.

"Sod off, Black," she snapped, Lily casting a smug smile, Alice rolling her eyes.

Sirius only smirked, leaning against the compartment door and turning his head into the hall.

"PRONGS!" he shouted.

"I never did understand those nicknames," said Lily to the girls in an undertone.

"I don't either," Alice agreed. "Who's who, again?"

"Remus is Moony," explained Rory. She had begun calling him this due to his 'furry little problem' and had always assumed the rest of the boys wanted their own nicknames.

"James is Prongs, Peter is Wormtail, and Black is —"

"Padfoot," said a voice outside the compartment. "you've found her, then?"

"Yes sir." Sirius saluted James as he stood next to him in the doorway.

"There you are, Rory!" he exclaimed, wrapping his arms around her; she responded immediately. "We missed you over the holidays."

"Sorry, Jamsie," she said as they pulled away. "You know I would've come if Mason hadn't been so keen on spending this Christmas as a family, if that's what you can call us…"

"Well, you're a Potter come summer," James reminded with a smile before turning to Lily. "Although I'm still waiting for Evans to say she'll be a Potter all year-round."

Lily rolled her eyes. "You really do need a hobby that doesn't involve torturing me," she told him.

"Ah, but I do, Lilyflower," her frown deepened at the sound of James's nickname for her. "It's called Quidditch."

"Don't we know it," said Sirius. "When's our next match, Captain?"

"Not until March," James replied, disappointed.

"Which means we'll be practicing whenever we can up until then, I'm guessing," said Rory.

"You guess correct." James plastered a smile back onto his face.

"Oh honestly, Potter — it's correctly!" rectified Lily. "I'm sorry, Rory, you know we love you but I'm not sure how much more of this I can stand."

Alice nodded in agreement as Rory looked between the two of them.

"You're sure you won't be upset once I've been kidnapped?" She smirked.

"We'll manage," Alice told her, smiling. "See you at the feast."

"Excellent," said James. "Padfoot, take the prisoner, won't you?"

And before Rory could object, Sirius had picked her up and flung her over his shoulder effortlessly. He began following James to their compartment, Rory never once easing up as she punched Sirius's back.

"Put me down, Black!" she shouted, despite the countless number of glares she figured she was receiving.

"You're slipping, love," he said, feigning worry, obviously losening his grip on purpose.

"Black, if you drop me — !"

"Oh, so now you want me to hold you?"

Rory detected James's chuckling from ahead of them.

"Then you'll have to say so," Sirius told her.

"Not even in your dreams," she retorted.

"Alright, then."

Rory felt herself beginning to slip before calling out reluctantly, "Hold me!"

Sirius stopped walking for a moment. " 'Hold me', who?"

"Black," Rory spat.

He began loosening his grip once again.

"I mean Sirius!" Rory called out grudgingly. "Hold me, Sirius!"

He then retained his firm one-handed clamp over her legs, undeniabley close to the Marauders compartment.

"I hope you enjoyed that, Black, because it's the only time you'll ever hear me say that," Rory told him.

"Aw c'mon, Hart," said Sirius with mock hurt. "Not even when hell freezes over?"

"How about when Snivelly washes his hair?" suggested Rory acidly.

"Fair enough."

"So, you nearly dropped me because you wanted me to tell you to hold me?"

"Actually," Sirius began. "my first intention was to nearly drop you so I could do this."

Just as before, Rory was sure she would fall to the floor of the train, until Sirius re-positioned his hand so it was squeezing her in the last spot she wanted touched — especially by Sirius Black.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK!" Rory hollered. "GET YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF MY ARSE BEFORE I HEX YOU INTO THE NEXT CENTURY!"

No sooner had she finished than was she tossed into the compartment, her head hitting the window. Sirius and James plopped down in the seats across from Rory and began talking as if nothing had happened.

"So anyway, where were we?" asked James, smiling.

"Quidditch." Sirius grinned.

"Right, so I was thinking for our next practice we'll —"

"James!" Rory snapped, both boys' heads turning to her. "You aren't going to do anything?"

"Right, sorry, Rory," he turned to Sirius and raised his hand. "Well done, Padfoot!"

The two high-fived. "Thank you, Prongs."

Rory groaned and propped her back up against the window, legs out and crossed.

"You know, love," began Sirius. "if I squint one eye, and you keep your head turned, you could pass for Evans with the way you've been shouting at us."

The two snickered as a horrified expression came over Rory. She could just picture it — her hair a bit more red, her eyes green, that prefect badge pinned onto her robes…

"Bloody hell, Sirius!" she said. "That's not funny!"

Both he and James now sat, dumbfounded; Rory perplexed.

"What?" she finally asked.

Their faces broke into smirks. "You called me Sirius."

Son of a Banshee, thought Rory. I did, didn't I?

"So what?" she asked nonchalantly, although she really felt like jinxing herself. "I said it a moment ago, didn't I?"

"That's only because I told you to, Rory."

Merlin, my name sounds fantastic when he says it! she thought. No, wait, this is Black we're talking about!

"It is truly a day to be remembered," said James. "A major stepping stone for the relationship of Sirius Black and Rory Hart."

"Oh, bugger off," Rory told him, smiling. "So I called him by his first name. S'no big deal."

"Well, sure it is!" he disagreed. "I'm still waiting for that glorious day when my Lilyflower calls me by my first name."

James had plastered that dream-like grin across his face, hazel eyes staring off aimlessly from behind his round glasses.

"Uh oh," said Sirius in a sing-song voice. "Prongs is off in Lily Land."

A giggle escaped Rory, which was all it took for both Sirius and James's heads to snap back in her direction.

"What did I do this time?" she asked suspiciously.

"You just laughed at something he said," James explained.

"Guess you don't hate me as much as you let on." Sirius winked.

Rory leaned forward, scrunched up her face, and stuck her tongue out to the both of them, only to immediately pull it back in after feeling something equally as wet come in contact with it. She sat back, feeling repulsed and looking at the two boys who were snickering; James in disbelief and amusement and Sirius looking rather proud.

"What was that?" asked Rory, regretting squeezing her eyes shut when it had happened.

Her assumptions had been confirmed when Sirius replied with, "My tongue," causing the two to burst into laughter.

"Oh honestly, Black!" Rory said. "If you're so randy, can't you go snog your current flavour of the week?"

"Actually, Hart, I quite like your flavour," said Sirius, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Rory groaned and propped herself back up against the window. "Where's Moony and when's he coming back?"she whined.

"Ooh, looks like Padfoot's got some competition," James taunted.

"Eh, I'm not worried," Sirius told him airily.

James turned to Rory. "Remus is at the prefects' meeting and should be back soon."

"Hey, he was Moony to me first," she defended. "Besides, I don't call the rest of you by your silly nicknames."

James appeared for a second as though he was going to argue, but simply said, "Fair enough."

"What about Peter?" asked Rory, though he wouldn't be much help to ward off Black. "Where's he?"

"Probably off with Abigail," Sirius said, stifling a laugh.

"Abigail as in Abigail Greene?" confirmed Rory, sounding equally as amused. "The fifth year Hufflepuff that you left in shambles right before break?"

"The very one."

"What's Peter doing with her?"

"He claims they're an item," James chimed in. "Although I, personally, don't see it as much of a relationship if all they talk about is Sirius."

Laughter filled the compartment from all three of them, though Rory knew she should be feeling bad for Peter. She, James, and Sirius were, towards the middle of the journey, interrupted by the old witch with the trolley just as they were discussing new Quidditch tactics. And so several Chocolate Frogs, Liquorice Wands, and Cauldron Cakes later, Remus finally arrived at the compartment door.

"Moony!" exclaimed Rory as she shot up from her seat.

"Rory!" He pulled her into a warm hug.

"Thank Merlin you're here," she said, feigning misery as the two sat down together. "Black grabbed my arse just before."

"And licked her tongue," added James, smiling at the memory.

"Well, that's Sirius for you." Remus smiled.

Oh my Godric, Rory thought. How've I been able to remain anything more than friends with him?

"I saved you my last Chocolate Frog," she told him, offering the small box.

"Thanks. So, how was your holiday?" he asked before taking a bite.

Rory shrugged. "Not bad. I missed you blokes, though," she admitted.

And at the sight of Sirius's smirk she added, "Except Black."

He placed a hand over his heart. "Ouch, Hart," he said with mock hurt. "And here I thought we'd been getting along so well."

Rory rolled her eyes and turned back to Remus. "No full moons, though, right?"

"Nope," he replied.

She'd been keeping track — he'd already had his transformation in December before break, and the one for January was weeks away.

"Have you ever seen a werewolf, Hart?" Sirius asked casually. Both James and Remus shot him a warning glare.

"Remus would never let me see it," confessed Rory disappointedly.

Remus mirrored her saddened expression. "You'd never look at me the same way, Rory," he told her.

"Of course I would!" she argued.

"You've no idea what you're saying," murmured Remus.

Sirius's expression was unreadable; James looked away guiltily.

"They've seen it, haven't they?" Rory asked. "And Peter too."

Remus looked to Sirius as if to say, Look what you've done.

Sirius this could be expected from, but Rory couldn't endure a glance at either Remus or James. The cushioned seat hardened like marble underneath her. Never had she felt such a painful combination of betrayl and nausea. Feeling suddenly sick to her stomach, she stood up and walked out of the compartment. She lingered in the doorway for a moment and saw James still staring out the window, Remus with his head in his hands, and Sirius looking to him completely deadpan.

"You said we'd tell eachother everything," spoke Rory softly to no one in particular before storming off down the corridor.

Along the way, she ran into Peter who greeted her brightly, and she almost felt bad for pushing past him without a word. Rory made her way back to her original compartment where Lily and Alice sat giggling across from eachother. The girls took one look at Rory and immediately began questioning her.

"Was it Black?" Lily guessed.

Rory took the seat next to her and said, "It was all of them."

"What happened?" asked Alice.

"They…haven't exactly been too honest with me," Rory vaguely explained. "I mean, I've told them everything, and they can't tell me — well…it's just what caused us to become so close in the first place."

It was difficult venting to people when you couldn't tell them the real problem. That Rory's best mates had all seen Remus transform, except her. That she finally realized how she never felt like she even belonged. The good thing was that neither Lily nor Alice asked her to explain it any further. Lily laced an arm around Rory's shoulders and Alice moved to sit on her other side to lean her head against one.

Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs… she mused. Who needs Rory Hart?

And eventually, as the sun began to set and the color of the clouds ran pink, Rory realized she had been whispering it as it lulled her off to sleep.

"Who needs Rory Hart…who needs Rory Hart…who needs —"

"Rory," said Lily tenderly, causing her eyes to flutter open. "Wake up. You've got to change into your uniform."

"Alright," she groggily replied.

"I've got to tell the others," she explained before stepping past the open sliding glass doors.

Alice gingerly hoisted Rory to her feet before excusing herself from the compartment to give Rory a minute to change. She had just finished and was about to open the compartment doors to allow Alice back in when she heard Remus's voice from outside.

"What're you doing here?" asked Alice venomously.

"I'm a prefect, I have every right to be here," Remus reminded quietly.

"Well, that doesn't give you the right to speak to Rory."

"Please, Alice," he begged. "It'll just be a minute."

"She doesn't want to speak to you," insisted Alice.

"Oh Godric," said another voice anxiously. "We didn't make her cry, did we?"

"Of course not," Alice spat. "Just get back to your compartment, Potter."

She then stepped back into the compartment, Rory noticing both Remus and James gone as she left the doors open. She thanked Alice and quickly wrapped her in a hug just before Lily had returned.

- - -

"D'you reckon I was too hard on them?" asked Rory as she peered down the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall to find all four Marauders looking sadly into their full plates of food.

"Absolutley not," said Lily. "Like you said, you've told them everything."

"Yeah, they should be able to tell you anything," Alice agreed.

But if they knew what the real problem was, would they still be telling Rory this? In reality, hadn't she been just a bit too dramatic about the whole thing? She risked another glance at the Marauders to find Sirius staring in her direction; he didn't even look away when Rory caught his eye. Instead, she broke the gaze and sent her fork pushing the food around her plate again.

"Rory, we know you're upset," said Alice sympathetically. "but you've got to eat something."

"So please stop rearranging your food and just eat it," Lily chimed in.

But she couldn't. Rory found it difficult to swallo everything on her plate and ended up simply leaving the Great Hall entirely. Muttering the password to the Fat Lady, she took advantage of the empty common room and plopped herself onto the couch, laying on her stomach and staring into the fireplace.

Who needs Rory Hart? Who needs Rory Hart?

Yay! You made it! I know it's kind of long and maybe it's kind of boring? But I hope you'll stick with it! If you read, be sure to review, because you'll get updates sooner(: