This is a sequel to my story, Summer at the Potters, and it will not make much sense without reading it first. This is set in the Marauder's fifth year at Hogwarts, obviously.
-Lily-
I stuffed my trunk with all the things I had needed to get ready for the train ride to school. I was anxious to get back to Hogwarts; I hadn't seen James since I left the Potters. In fact, he didn't even say goodbye to me when Severus and I left by Floo the next morning. Even Sirius had come down to give me a hug and give Severus a quick flick to the ear. Sirius hadn't made fun of me, so James must have not told him about the kiss.
I had run away as soon as we had broken apart. James called after me, but I just ran up the stairs and jumped back into bed. I hadn't even told Violet.
"Are you ready, Lils?" I nearly dropped my new prefects badge when my dad came up behind me. "Skittish today, are we?"
"Sorry, Dad," I said with a forced laugh. "I'm just excited."
"Yeah, you've been talking about how you get to take those tests this year for quite some time. What were those called again?"
"The OWLs, Dad," I said, pulling on my knapsack. "They pretty much determine my future career."
"And what was that again?" He joked. I talked about how I wanted to be the Potions Master at Hogwarts all the time. Slughorn planned to retire soon, and I wanted to take over. Until then, I'd go to school, and maybe take a job in Hogsmeade.
"You're hilarious," I said sarcastically. Dad picked up my trunk easily, following me down to the car. I picked up my new kitten off my bed. My parents had surprised me with him the day before. He was small enough to fit in my hand. He had big blue eyes, with all black fur, except for his little white paws.
Severus was already waiting by the car, talking to my mum. Of course, she was fussing over how skinny he looked.
"Three more years, Sev," I said with a smirk.
"I could take a few more."
-James-
Mum and Dad didn't waste time waiting with Padfoot, Violet and I. The whole way to King's Cross on the Knight Bus, I listened to my parents gush at how wonderful it was that Padfoot was dating Violet, how they always felt like he was part of the family, and how Lily was such a nice girl and I should try harder for her.
I ignored them for the most part, instead, rehearsing how I should greet Lily. I was too embarrassed to even say goodbye to her the morning after we kissed. I hadn't even told Padfoot. I stayed in bed and pretended to sleep when the others went down to see her off.
Bipsy had asked what I'd done to make Lily run away, and I had no answer. She had been the one to kiss me, which I never would have thought possible until that night.
"Oi, thick head," Violet said, waving her hand in front of my face. She was waiting in our compartment with Padfoot and I until Lily and Snape arrived, sitting on Padfoot's lap as always. I had gotten used to it, but that didn't mean I had to like it.
"What?" I asked, a little annoyed.
"I said, do you think Dumbledore's going to talk about the killings last night?" Violet said.
"Killings?" I asked, surprised. "What killings?"
"Did you listen to Dad at all, mate?" Padfoot asked. "That Lord Voldemort guy and his followers killed a bunch of muggles in Manchester. Seamus Murphy died as well. He was trying to stop the whole thing, all by himself."
"Deirdre's brother?" I asked. I knew Deirdre. She was a very outspoken Irish sixth year. She was often called a "muggle lover" by the Slytherins, but she was fairly nice and always cheered the loudest at Quidditch matches. I hadn't talked to Seamus often, but he was much like his sister, short and short tempered.
"Yeah," Violet said. "She won't be coming to school until later. At least that's what Mum says."
"You guys talking about Lord Voldemort?" We looked up to see Frank Longtbottom. Frank was in the year above us, but often joined us in our conversations about Quidditch or politics. He was a tall kid with a chubby face and a lot of brown hair.
"Yeah, he's been in the papers a lot," Violet said.
"I reckon he'll cause more trouble soon," Frank said. "Can't wait to get out of school so I can fight against bastards like him."
"And we'll fight with you, Longbottom," Padfoot said, giving him a smile that Frank returned.
"I've got to go find Alice," Frank said. "Nice to see you two are together," He said to Violet and Padfoot. "Always figured you would. See you at dinner."
"I hope the ministry will deal with the Death Eaters before anything else happens," Violet said.
"Hi, guys!" Wormtail greeted as he entered the compartment, followed by Moony.
"What are you so excited about?" Padfoot asked.
"He just saw Molly," Moony said, rolling his eyes.
"Oh, Molly's here?" Violet said. "I just love her, she's so sweet."
"She is," Wormtail said. Padfoot shoved him.
"You just fancy her," He said.
"She's a mother, for Merlin's sake, Wormtail," I chided.
"I don't fancy her," Wormtail said.
"Of course you don't," Moony said. "That's why I had to drag you away from the platform."
"I love her kids," Violet said, ignoring our taunts. "They've both got red hair and freckles. I just want to take one."
"You don't need kids, Violet," I said.
"You're right about that," Padfoot said. Both Violet and I glared at him.
"Violet!" I felt my stomach drop at the voice of my favourite ginger. "There you are, look what I have!" She presented a small ball of black fluff.
"Kitten!" Padfoot yelled, moving my sister from his lap and grabbing the cat from Lily. He looked ridiculous; Padfoot was probably the tallest person at Hogwarts, besides Hagrid, and was built like a house, yet there he was, cuddling a small kitten.
Lily and Violet laughed at him. "What's his name?" Padfoot asked. The creature rubbed his furry face on Padfoot's, who nuzzled him back.
"Pluto," Lily said. "I think Sirius might have just stolen my cat."
"I love cats," Padfoot said, scratching behind Pluto's ears.
"We can tell," Snape said, coming up behind Lily. The cat gave Snape the same angry look as Padfoot, like he could sense his annoyance.
"Lupin, Lily," Snape said, "We're supposed to meet with the other prefects at the end of the train."
"Sirius, you can watch Pluto until I get back," Lily said with a laugh. I could have imagined it, but I thought I saw her take a quick glance at me.
-Lily-
"Sirius, I can't believe you snuck him in here," I said. Sirius had conveniently forgotten to put Pluto with the other pets when we made our way through the halls.
"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about, Lily," Sirius said, even as he tucked the kitten further under his robe.
"Sirius-,"
"Ah, ah," Sirius said, pointing forward, "Dumbledore is about to speak."
I was going to argue with him more, but Dumbledore was, indeed, walking up to the podium at the front of the great hall. I hoped his speech wasn't too long. I was anxious to eat and get to my first duty as a prefect: showing the first years to the Gryffindor common room. I could already tell which ones that were Muggleborns, the ones looking up at the ceiling and around the room, some eyes landing on Hagrid.
"Hello, all, and welcome," Dumbledore spoke clearly and loudly. "And for some of you, welcome back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. For those that do not know, I am Professor Albus Dumbledore."
"Had no idea," James yelled back. McGonagall glared at him from her seat at the teachers table. Dumbledore smiled. He always found the Marauders' shenanigans amusing.
"Ah, yes, glad to see you again, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said. "James Potter, everyone, our resident jokester."
James got out of his seat to take a bow. There was a round of applause from all of the tables, except for, of course, Slytherin.
"As much as I enjoy Mr. Potter's antics, I must warn first years not to follow his example, as it may get you in a spot of trouble with Professor McGonagall," Even McGonagall cracked a smile at that one. "On a much sadder note, I'm sure most of you have heard of Manchester Muggle Slaying last night. I regret to tell you that one of our students, a seventh year Ravenclaw by the name of Seamus Murphy was killed trying to protect his muggle friends. A moment of silence for our fellow humans."
The entire hall was complete still. Even the Slytherins, who probably didn't want to start the year off with a hundred missing points.
"Thank you all," Dumbledore said. "Now please, enjoy the feast."
"I'm surprised he didn't mention Lord Voldemort," I mused, grabbing a chicken leg from the plate before me.
"Dumbledore wouldn't want him to get the attention," Violet said. "Victims are more important than the killer."
"That's very profound," James said, mashed potatoes spilling out of his mouth.
"You are such an annoying git," Violet said, shoving a napkin towards him. James wrapped his arm around her, pulling her close and kissing her cheek.
"Love you, too, sis."
-0-
I remember my first night staying at Hogwarts, and I was terrified because I only knew Severus and we'd been separated after dinner. Violet, who I'd met on the train, talked to me the whole night. She helped me make something to remind me of home: a poster covered in pictures. Now, every summer before I left for school, I would make a new one, and the others would stay in my room at home. It was all moving, magic pictures this year, except for the picture of Severus, Violet and I after the last Quidditch match of the season last year. We all had big smiles on, as Gryffindor had just won, and somehow, James and Sirius had made it in, pulling faces.
"Surprised Vi didn't smack Potter with her broom," Emily Morgan, my tall, tan skinned dorm mate said, pointing at the picture. I always got on with Emily. She was a muggleborn as well.
"Oi," Alice Oland said, setting her knapsack down on her bed, "Don't you remember? She did." She set her own picture on her nightstand, one of her and Frank. She'd been dating him for nearly two years. Alice was tiny, with the most gorgeous blonde hair, down to her backside. She looked sweet, but she was loud and put up quite a fight.
"Course I did," Violet said, proudly.
"How could you ever be mad at that beautiful face," Melody Fellow said, dreamily looking at the picture Violet had of her brother and her in their Quidditch robes. Melody often hung around with Ravenclaws and talked about boys often. She was shorter than me, but not quite as small as Alice. Her hair was a mousy brown that matched her eyes. Needless to say, she was not my favourite.
"Easily," Violet said. She liked Melody even less.
"Now, now, ladies," Alice said. "Lils, I'm glad to see you're still standing after you're summer with the Marauders."
"Ah, just barely," I said.
"She even got a snog off my brother," Violet said nudging me. I felt like my lungs just collapsed.
"Wha- How did you know about that?" I sputtered. Violet raised her eyebrow at me.
"Because I was there when Remus dared you?"
I had almost completely forgotten our game of Truth or Dare at the beginning of the summer.
"Oh…Oh, yeah, right."
-James-
"Oh, good, the twat brothers made it back," Simon Killen said as Padfoot, Moony, Wormtail, and I entered the dorm.
"I missed, too, Killen," I said, tossing my robe over Killen's head. He pulled it off, grinning. Killen was mostly serious, except when he was exposed to us Marauders. He was a studious and clever, with a complexion almost as dark as his humour.
"Good summer, I suppose," Killen said. "Not too far from your boyfriends."
Padfoot pulled me in by my waist. "Never," He said, kissing my forehead.
"I heard you and Potter's sister have paired off, now," Killen said. I rolled my eyes. Nothing stayed quiet at Hogwarts for too long. Padfoot had been getting this question all night. He gave me a side glance.
"Yeah," was his only answer.
"Lucky man," Killen said with a wink.
"Oi, brother, right here," I said.
"Sorry, mate," Killen said, suggesting he wasn't really all that sorry.
"Hush, now," Moony said, "You're both pretty."
"Piss off."