Remus stared mindlessly at the leather-bound book in his lap. He must've skimmed the same page five times, but was too busy paying attention to the other people in the train compartment to actually read it. His friends, a group known as the Marauders, were busy describing the girls they met over the summer break. Or rather, James and Sirius, the two most charming in the group, were enthusiastically acting out their 'conquests' as Peter listened on in awe of his two role models.
Role models, Remus chuckled to himself, as if you could call them that. The train rumbled loudly beneath them as it travelled across farmland, on the way to Hogwarts. It was their sixth year together, and Remus was more than happy to be back with his friends, but he wouldn't mind a little peace and quiet every now and then. He finally heaved a sigh, and gave up on his book; there was no way he was going to focus with the ruckus the others were causing. He looked up just in time to see his friend Sirius, his black, curly, wild hair hanging in his face, laughing as he pumped his hips into the air.
"Wow Sirius, you get all of the girls, don't you?" Peter asked adoringly. You could see the hint of jealousy in his plain brown eyes; he was even shyer than Remus around girls. Peter was a rather mousy young man, and Remus couldn't remember a single occasion where he was able to talk to a girl without his voice cracking.
"I do indeed, Wormtail, they can't seem to keep their hands off of me." Sirius responded, a wolfish grin spreading on his face. He had always been the womanizer of the group, sleeping his way through nearly all the girls in their year. "What about you Prongs, finally get over the fair redhead you so adore?" he taunted, turning to James, making obnoxiously loud kissing noises at his friend.
"No, Lily hasn't talked to me since last February." James huffed sadly.
"Perhaps you shouldn't have called her Sweetie?" Remus inquired innocently, "I don't think she appreciated the familiarity."
James pouted at the idea. Remus couldn't help but smile at his friend, whose four year crush on the same girl had been nothing but sour. It was a shame too; James was captain of the Quidditch team, and easily the most popular guy at the school. He could date any member of the little fan club that followed him around the halls of Hogwarts. James ran his hand through his hair, making it stick up as though he had just gotten off his broomstick.
"What about you Moony, any ladies sweep you off your feet this summer?" Sirius asked jokingly, as he bit into a licorice wand. Remus couldn't help but snort, they all knew that the only time he ever talked to girls was during class, and the topic never strayed far from the homework assignments. "Aww, don't worry Moony, we'll find you a lady to play with soon," Sirius told him, a devilish smirk playing on his face. "There must be someone on your mind."
"Not really," Remus replied dryly, wishing he would've kept on with his book, it might have kept the others off his back.
"How can there be no one?" squeaked Peter, "There must be someone, there's plenty of pretty girls at school!"
"Yes but not one of them is either unclaimed, or hasn't been wooed into bed by Padfoot," he told them simply. And it was true, there was no one that he would want to date that Sirius hadn't gotten to already. The last thing he wanted was to date one of Sirius' rejects.
"Ah mate, that's where you're wrong," Sirius said, a mischievous look in his eye "Rarely are we in a bed!" he barked, smiling at his own charm.
"Well come on, there's got to be somebody at the school who hasn't slept with Pads yet," James told his friend, "We just need to think of one. What's your type?"
Remus shrugged, "I don't know, I don't have one I suppose"
"That's where you're wrong mate, you always have a type, otherwise you'd date any living thing that walked past you," Sirius told him.
"So you don't have a type either then?"
"Well, I am insulted Remus! Are you calling me whorish?" he questioned mockingly. Remus just gave him a sharp look, his patience wearing thin. "Oh alright, come on now, just tell us. There must be one thing you would look for in a girl!"
"I don't know," Remus replied nervously, racking his brain for any response to get his friends to leave him alone, "I suppose a sharp wit and a good sense of humor?"
"Gah, how boring, come on Remus. You're a teenage boy, don't you have any thoughts that don't revolve around homework? Any fantasies that don't include getting good grades?" James joked, taunting his friend. After all, what else are friends for? "What do you like? Legs? You seem like a legs man to me."
"I don't know," Remus replied, a blush creeping up his face "I guess blue eyes?" He replied nervously. Upon seeing the disappointed look on his friends' faces, he continued, "And I guess a curvy shape, not chunky or anything, petite with curves."
"Ah, I know what you mean my lad," Sirius grinned, running his hands through the air in an hourglass shape, "Good choice, more to hold on to that way" He said with a wink. James and Peter both threw handfuls of jelly beans at him.
"You're a real dog, you know that Padfoot?" James laughed. The three continued to battle with their candy, throwing pumpkin pasties at each other's faces, and generally making a mess on the compartments benches.
Remus sighed, thankful to have the attention taken off of him, and turned his attention to the rolling hills out the window. It wasn't that he didn't like girls, it was just that he knew he would never find one who would want to be near him, much less date him, once they knew about his 'furry little problem'. It was best to just keep to himself and make himself busy with his friend's shenanigans, rather than go traipsing after some girl who could never love him back.
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On the other side of the hallway, in a different compartment, Lily Evans was already nose deep in a text book. She knew she was going to be bust with Prefect duties, so she thought it best to get all of her studying done as early as she could. Her red hair curled around her face and into her emerald eyes, she bit her lip as she pushed the tendrils away. A stunning brunette was stretched out on the seat across from her, trying to interest herself with a magazine.
"Lily, I'm bored," She huffed, throwing her magazine to the ground. Lily barely even glanced up at her friend, before lazily replying,
"Then find something to entertain yourself Emily." She returned to her book, finding Ancient Runes to be much more interesting than her friend rambling on about boys or makeup. Suddenly the door to the compartment swished open, and an unfamiliar face poked in.
"Um, hello, I was wondering if I could sit here?" the new girl asked, a small blush creeping up her face, "There's not much room anywhere else."
"Of course!" Emily responded, eager for someone to entertain her. "Come sit down! I don't recognize you, are you new?" The new girl relaxed a little, happy to have someone to talk to.
"Yes, I just transferred here from Beauxbatons, this is my sixth year." She told them, "My name's Ana Smith."
Smiling warmly, Lily extended her hand to greet Ana, "Hi there, my name's Lily, and that's Emily. If you need any help, ask me anything, I'm a Prefect. Did you already get sorted?"
"Yes, I was at Hogwarts a few weeks ago to meet Dumbledore, and I was sorted into Gryffindor then."
Emily squealed in delight, "We're Gryffindors too! That means you'll be our new bunkmate!"
"Thank goodness, we need more force against that conceited Alicia" Lily muttered, "You'll have to be careful though Ana, the boys in our year can be quite a force. Make sure you don't fall for Sirius Black's charms like everyone else at the school."
"Oh Lily, he's really not that bad, it's not his fault he's so handsome." Emily gushed "But still, don't fall for it, because this year he's mine."
"Who's yours?" Sirius asked, as he stepped into the compartment. A blush ran up Emily's neck, covering her cheeks.
"None of your business." She muttered sheepishly. Sirius slid into a seat, followed by James and Peter.
"Well hello there love," he said to Ana "I'm Black, Sirius Black," he said with a wolfish grin "and these are my mates, James and Peter. And Remus is still huddled in the other compartment, reading a book." He added, rolling his eyes.
"Hi I'm Ana," she said carefully, remembering Lily's warning about the notorious Sirius Black. She could see what they meant, he had only just met her, and already was trying to charm her. Ana definitely wanted to be careful around him.
"Sirius," Lily began "There's nothing wrong with reading a boo-"
"Oy! Moony! Get in here already!" Sirius interrupted. Remus looked up in shock, surprised to see that none of his friends were in his compartment. He shyly got out of his seat and wandered into the next compartment. Ana watched him move, he was slim and tall, yet managed to walk into the room gracefully, unlike Ana who was a bushel. She couldn't help but stare at the tawny hair that fell into his gold eyes. She then noticed that he was watching her too, and she quickly turned her head to look in the other directions.
"Hey James," Sirius taunted, "Looks like we've got another redhead here." He gently reached forward and tugged on Ana's bright red curls "Better not fall for her too!" He howled laughing at his friend.
Remus had sat down across from Ana, and once again buried his face in his book, but she couldn't help but notice that he was looking up at his friends, listening to their conversation.
"So Ana, why did you transfer here anyways?" Emily asked her, trying to keep her eyes off of Sirius.
"Oh, my parents just thought I would get a better education here I suppose." She replied, "I'm happy to come here though, I was the only one there without a French accent."
The group set off, telling Ana all she needed to know about Hogwarts. The girls told her about which teachers she needed to suck up to and which classes she'd most likely fall asleep in, while the boys told her to keep clear of any Slytherin and to never get caught in a prank war with them. This set off an argument between Lily-the-Prefect and the 'mischief twins'. As she scolded them for being such awful role models for Ana and any of the first-years, Ana turned her attention back to Remus, who was still reading his book.
"What are you reading?" She asked him curiously. It took a while for Remus to even register that she was talking to him.
"Oh, um, Catcher in the Rye. It's a muggle classic." He said shyly, averting her gaze.
"Oh, that's one of my favorites! When you're done, you'll have to tell me what you think of it!"
"Um, yeah, sure." He mumbled nervously.
"Ana," Emily said, standing up with Lily, "We're going to go change into our robes, wanna come with?" Ana nodded, and followed them out of the compartment.
As soon as they had closed the door behind them, Sirius let out a long wolf-whistle.
"Blimey, what do you think about that new girl?" He said, a devilish gleam in his eye, "It's nice to have a little fresh meat around here."
"Sirius, must you refer to a woman as meat?" Remus sighed.
"Oh standing up for her, aren't we? Well aren't you noble? Don't even bother with the feminism, I saw you two flirting over there. Fancy her at all?"
"She was just asking me about my book." Remus said quickly, he could feel the heat of a blush rising across his face.
"Oh sure, talking about a book. A likely excuse!"
"Just because you don't read Sirius, doesn't mean nobody else does either."
