Author's Note: Hello! Longtime lurker here, and figured I'd take a crack at publishing my own little fanfiction. Hope you guys like it!
We are wild
We are like young volcanoes
We are wild
Americana, exotica
Do you wanna feel a little beautiful, baby? - Young Volcanoes Fall Out Boy
It was the First of Year speech that Professor Albus Dumbledore always gave before the start of the school year and most everyone had been paying attention, however a small handful didn't particularly care (note: mostly fifth years and above) and continued their conversations in hushed tones. Of this group had been three of the four sixth year boys known as the Marauders. James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew held no interest in what their headmaster had to say, but Remus Lupin had been listening with rapt attention. Further down the table, Lily Evans had twisted in her seat with a suspiciously empty seat to her left between her and Marlene McKinnon who was making eyes at Sirius and he gladly returned the gesture.
"Now, I would like to introduce a new student that will be entering straight into sixth year to Hogwarts. Miss Abigail Jackson, please come in," Dumbledore spoke a little louder now to gain the remaining attention of the higher year students. Now, curious hushed whispers could be heard bouncing around the Great Hall as the entryway opened and in stepped a young professor and deemed deputy headmistress Professor Minerva McGonagall and an even younger female walked behind her, her head swiveling around as she took it all in with insatiable curiosity. "Miss Jackson is coming to us this year per her parents' request after years of assisting her family in, for lack of a better word, tracking and hunting down rogue witches and wizards and creatures such as werewolves and the like," Remus visibly winced at his words and James patted him on the shoulder, "I expect she would be a great deal of help for those in Defense class," he added conspiratorially with a wink.
Dumbledore continued on, but if at least half the male population wasn't paying attention to him, Sirius certainly wasn't. Like most of the other hormonal teenage boys in the room, his focus was solely on the new blonde that stood beside McGonagall at the front of the Hall. He whistled low to himself and nudged Fabian Prewett, friend to the Marauders with a smirk. "Perfect Ten or what?" he whispered, taking in her fair hair that fell to her slim waist, those killer curves you don't typically see on girls their age, long, sexy legs, elfin face, and baby blues that searched the room. Her uniform was perfectly fitted, her skirt barely within regulations, the top button of her shirt was popped, and the lack of tie gave everyone a good look at her cleavage.
Fabian grinned back. "Hell yeah, Perfect Ten! Now hush, I want to see which house she gets Sorted into. Fingers crossed it's Gryffindor."
Abigail sat down on the three-legged stool and McGonagall placed the old, ragged hat atop her head. Almost as soon as it touched her head, the Sorting Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" and the female professor lifted it from her head and allowed Abigail to stand, taking her seat at her new House table next to Lily who immersed her in conversation immediately.
"Now, let the Feast begin!" announced Dumbledore, food magically appeared on the tables before them.
Abigail scooped piles of food on her plate and dug in eagerly, focusing half her attention on eating and the other half listening to all of what Lily had to say about the school. Her beginning focus had been on the classes and what ones she had planned on taking that year herself, then it shifted to their fellow students as she went around the table, pointing out a handful of choice students she usually dealt with: Marlene, Alice Johnson, and Dorcas Meadowes (her friends), Fabian, Severus Snape (Slytherin, of course, and her best friend), Frank Longbottom (a Hufflepuff, but Alice adores him), and the Marauders (nothing but a bunch of troublemakers, that lot! The only tolerable one being Remus and that Potter was nothing but an insufferable toerag! Oh, and stay away from Black: he's got a reputation – to which Marlene attempted to deny as the pair of them were "going steady" now… neither Lily nor Abigail missed the way his attention had been focused on Abigail instead of Marlene, even though the other blonde failed to).
"So what's this about Hogsmeade that I keep hearing about? And what is it with the apparent fascination that people had with swine as they named these places?" asked Abigail after she polished off her plate and reached for more potatoes and chicken, much to the disgust and amazement of the other girls'.
"Where do you put all that?" Lily gaped as she finally noticed that she had previously stacked her plates with mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, steak, a bit of veggies, and rolls and now she was going for more potatoes and chicken?
Abigail paused with a mouthful of food, looking at her new redheaded friend with wide eyes and cheeks reminiscent of a chipmunk's. She chewed and swallowed quickly, wincing a little as the food forced its way down her throat a little less comfortably than she'd have liked. She grabbed her goblet of apple juice and took a couple gulps before answering, "I got a lot of exercise with being on the run all the time and chasing after werewolves and those damnable pixies, so my appetite is pretty insane paired with my metabolism. Gotta make up for all those calories, ya know?" with a shrug. Abigail grabbed another buttered roll and scooped up some of her potatoes with it, taking a large bite with a satisfied smile. "This food is amazing! Do they do dessert around here?"
"Soon enough, yeah. Not everyone can eat at the Olympic speed you do," laughed Lily as she resumed eating.
That didn't stop Abigail, however, as she stocked her plate full again with food. "So what's the Quidditch situation around here?"
Alice immediately perked up at that. "They're doing tryouts this year for a Keeper and another Chaser. I heard Potter's the new Captain so you'll have to wait for him to announce when the tryouts are. Knowing him, he'll want to get them out of the way ASAP so we can start training as soon as we can."
Abigail nodded as she chewed thoughtfully, her head tilted a little to the side as she stared at her plate. "I might try for Chaser. What position are you? Since you're pretty much the size of a pixie, I want to assume Seeker, but you could very well be the other Beater for all I know."
Alice giggled and smiled good-naturedly. "Nah, Frank has the Beater position filled alongside Black. I'm the Seeker, Potter and Prewett are Chasers."
Abigail nodded again, leaning forward with one elbow propped on the table, the hand that belonged to it cupping her chin as she stared down the table at the group known as the Marauders & co. Frank Longbottom was kind of small and wiry considering his Quidditch position, but Abigail had it drilled into her age to never judge a book by its cover, so she accepted it easily enough. The dude could've been the best Beater this school has ever seen for all she knew. His brown hair was kept neatly he seemed nice enough as Alice had. She noticed the way he kept glancing down towards their group and exchanging shy smiles with the pixie sized girl and internally cooed at how cute it was. Fabian Prewett was next, a good-looking redhead if she went for that type with laughing hazel eyes and a dazzling smile. He was filled in a bit more so than Frank had been, but not by much. She figured she could see him as a Chaser. Peter Pettigrew… she didn't know what to think of him and wouldn't unless she actually spoke to him, but she doubted that would ever happen. His eyes were small and beady and almost black, he was pudgy and assumedly short at least in comparison to the other five, his hair reminded her of a mullet she'd seen on a muggle one time, but twice as greasy, his face was round and oily and littered with blemishes. She almost felt sorry for him… almost. Remus Lupin laughed along with the boys, though a bit more reserved than they were. His hair was sandy brown and kept fairly neatly as well, though she could tell he had ran his fingers through it at least a few times that day. She had assumed his eyes were hazel until the light caught in them just right and they seemed to flash yellow, but that couldn't be right… Her forehead pinched together as she took him in, the skin visible to her was riddled with old scar tissue resembling… no. It couldn't be. She sat up a little straighter and strained to get a closer look at him and his permanent markings. Those were definitely claw marks dragging down his arm, almost looking self-inflicted. As though he felt her gaze, he glanced over at her and their eyes locked. At first he was confused, then his eyes widened as she continued to scrutinize him and he looked away sheepishly, that's when she knew. She'd hunted his kind long enough to recognize the signs and he was definitely a werewolf. The feeling of someone's gaze burning into the side of her skull had her attention shifting into darkened hazel eyes hidden behind black-framed glasses. James Potter stared at her and she knew that he knew she knew about his friend now. They stared each other down, Abigail using her peripheral vision to take note of his messy, finger-combed, windswept mass of black curls, lean torso carved in a Chaser's build, tanned skin, and presently clenched jaw. She lifted a brow at him and his eyes narrowed threateningly. She wanted to laugh, but figured that would be a bad idea if she wanted any chance at being on his team. So, reluctantly, she nodded at him and he gave her a suspicious look before slowly nodding himself and turning his attentions back to his friends. Shaking her head slightly to brush off her metaphorically raised hackles, she decided to distract herself with taking in the last of the males. Sirius Black was handsome, no doubt about that. His face had an aristocratic feel to it, marred only by a small scar in his left cheek that gave him the appearance of a dimple that endeared him to Abigail quickly as he smirked with mischief lighting up his grey eyes. A rarity Abigail had only seen in one other person before. His black hair would normally have been considered long for her taste, but it suited him well as it fell in front of his eyes and touched the back of his neck. His skin was pale, his body almost mirrored James's, except Sirius was slightly more muscular given his position as Beater, and she was willing to bet he'd grown up in a Pureblood better-than-thou type family. His surname rang a tiny bell in the back of her mind, but she paid no heed to it. Instead, she decided to admire the dark and stunning boy subtly from the corner of her eye as she allowed Lily to engage her in conversation once more after a nudge.
"Cherry pie! Yes!" cheered Abigail as she whooped and took almost half a pie for herself and topped it with a large glob of vanilla ice cream. She scooped both desserts up and shoved them in her mouth, her eyes fluttering closed as she moaned happily. She chewed slowly, savoring in the flavors that danced along her taste buds while the girls laughed at her display. Finally, she swallowed and gave them a wide-eyed, innocent look. "What?"
"I'm never going to eat again," grumbled Abigail as she lay down on one of the couches in the Gryffindor common room. She felt nearly blinded by all the scarlet and gold as she entered after Lily had given the Fat Lady portrait the password (lemon drop, if you must know). Now she was rubbing her fully belly and grumbling in either pure bliss or loathing, Lily couldn't differentiate the two just then.
"Maybe you shouldn't have eaten so much, then," teased Alice. "That's probably going to nip you in the butt later if you keep eating like that and only have Quidditch for exercise, you know," she added in, taking a chance and hoping that the new girl wouldn't get offended.
Marlene looked at her as though she were crazy, but Lily grinned. Abigail shrugged, punching a victorious hand in the air. "Worth! But yeah, probably… that just means I'll have to keep up with my morning runs… ew. Hmm… eat a lot and run in the wee hours of the morning, or eat less and not have to run…" she used her hands as scales with invisible weights on them, her left hand sinking much lower than her right. "Eat a lot and run it is, then," she decided with a heavy sigh.
Alice giggled. "If it's any consolation to you, I might consider joining you if you don't murder me."
"What time do classes start?"
"Depends on if you have a free period first or not, really. Usually around seven-thirty, though," answered Lily from her seat on the chair closes to the fireplace.
Suddenly, the portrait door burst open and male chatter filled the common room. "Oh, Lily-kins! How lovely to see you!" greeted an overly happy voice, of which the redhead was having none of.
"Really Potter? This early in the year? Bugger off, why don't you?" she hissed and suddenly Abigail had a picture of a little orange kitten hissing at an overly excited puppy. It made her chuckle.
Now in her line of sight, Abigail could see James shrug and his other three Marauders lingering behind him. Peter watched their scene with boredom, Sirius was straining to keep his focus on Marlene who immediately bounced over to him and started fawning over the boy, and Remus had been looking everywhere but in Abigail's direction.
"Actually, I'm not here for you this time, Lily, although it's been a pleasure seeing you as always, my dear." Abigail envisioned him winking. "We're here to see the new girl, as a matter of fact!" James dragged her up from her spot on the couch and kept her arm trapped in his, she frowned in confusion. "We'll return her soon!" he announced before dragging the blonde up the left side dormitory steps. His smile had faded quickly and now he was serious, practically shoving her inside their designated dorm. Peter brought in the rear and closed the door behind him. The boys took seats on their respective beds as Abigail stood close to the door, arms crossed and left eyebrow lifted.
When none of them began to speak, she rolled her eyes and cast a silencing charm on the door and walls before making her way over to Remus's bed. Abigail reached out and grabbed his right arm, pushing up the sleeves of his rows to reveal the fact it was covered in scars, then the other, then she grabbed his face. Finally, his eyes locked on hers as they had in the Great Hall and he was panicked. She barely registered the other boys' protests and their wands pointed in her direction. Instead, she focused on his eyes, surprised at the color she had mistaken for yellow, only to find out they were darker and browner. Just like caramel. She continued to stare at him, searching for what he didn't know, but he sat still and tense as he let her. "You're different from the others," Abigail finally spoke, releasing the boy's face back to himself and she took a small step back. "You don't have the crazed look in your eye I've seen in so many before you, nor do I see any malicious intent. In fact, you look kind and, for the most part, genuinely happy. It's weird."
"Something wrong with that?" asked James scathingly and Abigail gave him an 'are-you-serious?'look.
"There's nothing wrong with that, of course. It's just weird, like I said. I've never seen a werewolf like him, the others have always been cruel and borderline psychotic. You're different in the best way. It almost seems as though you've come to terms with it, in fact."
Remus fiddled with the hem of his shirt and he shrugged. "I guess you could say that. It helps that I have three best friends that would never tell a soul, too," he said meaningfully, gazing up at her with a pleading look.
Abigail's lips curved up into a gentle smile and she ruffled his hair. "Your secret's safe with me," she promised, holding out a pinky.
Remus smiled shyly back and hooked his pinky around hers, she gave his a firm squeeze. "You can't break that promise, now."
"Wouldn't dream of it," she said honestly. "Now, if you gents don't mind, I'm off to bed. Got an early start in the morning. See ya!"
And with that, she left, leaving the boys to wonder if they could really trust her or not.
Author's Note 2: Hope you guys liked it! Maybe leave a comment to know if I should keep going? Thanks for reading!