Katherine Reynolds was not a dog person, not in the slightest. She had cats growing up and never cooed when she saw puppies running down the street with their owners in tow. Despite this, she could never resist Sirius Black's puppy dog eyes. His steely orbs met her deep brown ones, deep with longing. She swore she could see a hint of moisture gathering at his bottom lash line and threatening to spill over.
"Sirius Orion, are you really going to cry over a pumpkin pasty?" Kat shoved the boy's head off her lap and he rolled dramatically off the bench..
"Yes!" He cried, laying spread eagle on the floor of the train car. "Katherine Marie I am going to starve if you don't feed me right this minute." Kat giggled and slid off her green leather seat to kneel at the floor by his head. Her dark, curly hair fell into her eyes and she blew it away with a puff of breath. While she looked down at her boyfriend, she had a moment to appreciate the stark contrasts between their appearances. Sirius had been cursed with the porcelain skin of the Black family, while her skin was the color of milk chocolate and deepened even more by the hot Arizona sun. His hair was long and naturally straight while hers hung in tight ringlets, bouncing with any movement she made. Even their figures were different. Next to Sirius's tall and muscular figure, Kat looked like a faerie. She was barely 5'2'', and although her Quidditch had slimmed her plump eleven-year-old figure into a chaser's build, she still was proud of her remaining curves.
"Love, the train hasn't even started moving yet," She leaned forward and pressed her plump lips to his forehead. "Plus, it's not my fault someone left their money sitting on James' dresser."
"Oh don't start that with me," Sirius replied, more real anger in his voice than Kat expected. She ignored this and began teasing him, playing with his dark hair and poking him in the ribs in an effort to annoy him into giving her more attention. He scowled, pulled away and sat back on the bench, looking pensively at the ground.
"Is something wrong?" Kat asked. "You've really been cranky these past few weeks. Do you want to talk about it?
"Nah it's nothing," He looked away from her.
"Pads you can tell me," Kat furrowed her brow in concern. "I always tell you everything."
"I said it's nothing okay?" Sirius snapped. "Just drop it. Why don't you go dote over James instead, you two seemed awfully chummy this summer before I showed up."
"And what the Hell is that supposed to mean?" Kat stood up, balling her fists in anger. "What has gotten into you lately? Do you really think I would cheat on you?"
"Just drop it, okay," Sirius turned his head, but refused to meet his girlfriend's eyes which only frustrated her more.
"I'm going to see where James is," And with that, Kat swiftly turned and left.
'Maybe by the time I get back he will stop being so bipolar,' she thought. Home trouble or not, nothing gave him the right to treat her the way he had these past few weeks. One moment he was the fun-loving prankster she had started dating back in March of sixth year, the next he sulked around like a wounded Hippogriff, snapping at anyone who he came in contact with. With a shake of her head, Kat dismissed her thoughts. Starting the year off on a bad note was not what she wanted.
-Marlene Monroe was running late, but who expected anything else. The tall blonde teenager blew a wisp of hair out of her face as she pushed past the mass of people crowded around the front of the train. Her luggage and bag containing her cat, Snowball, had been taken by her older brother Andrew to the back of the train. Just as she made it to the front of the crowd and got ready to step off the platform she felt a tug on the back of her shirt. Marlene turned around to find her little brother Evan standing behind her, looking as if he was ready to cry.
"Evan what's wrong bud?" She asked, kneeling down to grasp his hands. "I said goodbye, right?"
"Y-yeah but I-I'm gonna miss you-u so much Mars," Evan choked out, tears beginning to stream down his face. Marlene bit back tears herself as she held her brother tightly. Things had been hard since their Dad started living away from home to work full time as an Auror. Marlene and her younger brother had grown extremely close and she was afraid something like this would happen when it was time to separate for the year.
"I'll see you soon Ev, I promise. And I'll write every day," Marlene pulled back and placed her hands on Evan's cheeks, pressing a kiss to his nose. "I love you."
"Love you too Mars," Evan sighed as his breaths slowed to a normal pace. "See you at Christmas." She kissed his cheek a final time and motioned for him to run back to their mother and other two brothers who she waved to before boarding the train.
Marlene found James waiting in the first carriage and he waved her in with a big grin. The two grasped each other tightly.
"I've missed you so much! How has your summer been? You really did grow a lot! How is Snowball? Is your Dad still away for work? Has he killed any Death Eaters lately? Stupid question, of course he has. Your Dad is Frederick Monroe for Merlin's sake. Anyway, can you tell I had three mugs of coffee this morning? My mom wasn't home so I could have as much as I want-" Marlene silenced James' incessant questions by pressing a hand over his mouth.
"Jem. I love you. Shut up," she giggled. The raven-haired teen nodded and pulled her hand from his mouth.
"Love you too," he smirked. "Kat and Sirius are in carriage 132, but I'm staying up here to let everyone else know where we are meeting. Meet you down there in a few?" Marlene nodded and hugged James one last quick time before rushing out of the carriage and down the hall to see her best friend.
Marlene didn't have to wait long, because Kat was already on her way. The two spotted each other from opposite ends of the train car and sprinted towards one another, meeting in the middle in a giant hug. They buried their faces in each other's hair, blocking out the rest of the world. Marlene and Kat had been friends since first year when they were seated next to each other in the Great Hall after being sorted.
'Katherine Reynolds,' read the witch from her place at the podium. A meek 11 year old Kat, or Katie as she was known back then, emerged from the crowd of anxious first years and took her place on the stool. The sorting hat was lowered onto her head. It took mere seconds for the hat to shout out a mighty "GRYFFINDOR" and the far left table clad in red and gold erupted into cheers, welcoming the new girl with zeal.
Kat looked around and finally spotted an empty bench next to a friendly looking blonde girl that had been on her boat during the ride over. They hadn't talked because everyone was so nervous, but it was better than taking a seat surrounded by rowdy seventh year boys.
"Hi, I'm Katie," she said, holding out her hand to the blonde as she took a seat.
"Hi Kat, I'm Marlene," she grinned, opting to grasp her new friend in a hug rather than a formal handshake. "We're going to be best friends. I just know it." The two giggled together.
"Good," Kat chirped. "I've always wanted a best friend."
"How was your summer babe?" Marlene asked, still holding tightly onto Kat's shoulders. Kat's grin faltered for only a second, but long enough for the other to notice and begin to worry.
"I'll catch you up. I need to bring James his snitch back. I'll see in a mo'?" Kat motioned to the carriage somewhere behind her and Marlene nodded.
"Catch you later," she sang, swiftly kissing her friend's cheek before racing to meet Sirius in 132.
-James Potter was nervous and let me tell you, James Potter was never nervous. The arrogant teenager was known for his confidence, bordering on arrogance if you asked the right person. He paced around the small train compartment, stopping occasionally to look out the window for a glint of red hair in the ever crowding train platform. Everytime he was met with no such luck, and returned to muddling over his predicament.
James had been in love with Lily. Keyword, had been. The infatuation ended somewhere around fourth year when Sirius admitted his (eventually short-lived) crush on Marlene and she was welcomed into their crew, bringing Lily and Kat, her two best friends, in tow. Sure, the crush remained, and Lily had never become a best friend, but being in the same friend group forced her to be civil and him to be, well, less him. However, once a Marauder, always a Marauder, and James couldn't have strayed from his rebellious ways forever.
"Ah, who do we have here," James sang, striding toward a group of Slytherins crowded near the Black Lake. He dug for his wand in his back pocket and Sirius followed suit. Remus stopped, looking back at Kat and Marlene for help restraining his friends. Peter panicked, looking from Remus to James repeatedly, eventually settling on running towards the castle, perhaps to fetch Lily.
"James, Sirius, leave it," Marlene shouted. The two girls began to jog toward the brewing fight.
"He's not worth it boys," Kat added. "The year's almost over, can't you just let it go?"
"Katie, you don't understand," Sirius turned around and smirked at the two girls. "You really think we can let Snivellus go the whole summer without one last memory from us?"
"Why don't we show him a bit of fun?" James twirled his wand between his fingers. "I'm thinking he needs a good wash. Just take a look at that hair!" Suddenly, with a flick of James' wrist, Snape was flung into the hair and hung upside down by his ankle. There was a collective gasp and snorts of laughter intermingling among the students.
"Potter, put me down now," Severus tried to appear menacing, but his eyes grew wide and his voice shook as he hovered four feet above the Black Lake. The blood was rushing to his head, causing his cheeks to flush a violent pink, a stark contrast to his normal sallow complexion.
"James please," pleaded Remus. Kat and Marlene murmured agreements, but at this point knew that the two were too far gone. Once James and Sirius got started, Lily was the only one who could knock some sense into them. Their attitudes were only made worse by the fact that Severus had managed to provoke them, yet again, by throwing a potent ingredient into their cauldron during Potions a few days ago, which caused it to erupt and coat Marlene and Sirius in a thick, red substance that left burns on any exposed skin. Needless to say, this served to enrage Sirius and James, and the minute they spotted Snape across campus there was no stopping them. Except, of course, the shout of an angry redhead from across the grounds.
"JAMES POTTER, PUT HIM DOWN NOW," Lily Evans shouted, running impossibly fast towards the boy. He jumped at the noise, causing him to lose focus and Snape fell headfirst into the dark waters. Lily froze for a moment, before changing direction and running to the dock a few meters away, where she dove into the lake without even taking off her robe. The crowd of students fell impossibly silent and still, the only sound was the lapping of waves on the bank of the Black Lake. James began to strip out of his clothes, intending to go and retrieve the pair, but Lily emerged from the water dragging a sputtering Slytherin behind her just as James had undone the buttons of his stark white shirt. When Snape was safely on his feet (or rather, coughing up water on his hands and knees), Lily stormed over to James and grabbed his tie, pulling him down to her eye level.
"James Potter, what the fuck do you think you were doing?" she hissed. "Sev can't swim, if I hadn't been here, he would've drowned. What would happen then? Do you have any regard for your future? For your friend's? What if you and Black got thrown in Azkaban for murder? Potter you're such an idiot sometimes i could just-" Her voice cracked and tears filled her emerald eyes. She pushed the boy away from her and spun around, refusing to let him see her cry. She walked towards Severus, who was just standing up again. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder, trying to provide any warmth, or at least some measure of comfort. She didn't get a chance to hold her childhood friend for long.
"Get off of me, you filthy mudblood," Snape choked out, pushing Lily off of him. In her delicate state, she fell at the sudden movement and landed in the mud. "I don't need help from a dirty muggle born like you." His surrounding friends chuckled, and one flicked his cigarette butt in the dirt next to her.
Kat and Marlene were by Lily's side in an instant, helping her from the ground and wrapping their dry cloaks around her sopping shoulders. They tried to murmur words of sympathy to the sobbing teenager, but she wasn't able to listen over the slur that was blaringly loud in her head.
'Mudblood'
Reliving this memory made James' heart sink to his toes. He ran his fingers through his thick hair, undoing all the work his mom had put into making sure his unruly curls were kept under control. There was a knock on the compartment door and James slid it open to find Remus and Alice standing in the hall, beaming brightly. He shook the memory from his head and smiled back at his two close friends. This was going to be a new year, and one mistake wasn't going to end his life.
-AN: Hi! So this is the rewritten version of my original chapter 1! For anyone new to the story, welcome I hope you enjoy! For anyone checking back in after already having read chapters 1 and 2, welcome back and please reread them! Thanks to my wonderful beta reader, I have made massive improvements to both chapters. Don't worry, chapter 3 is on it's way! It's actually finished and just needs some refining before publishing. As always reviews are appreciated and keep an eye out for chapter 3 in a few days! Ciao! ~Sarahϟ