A/N: Hello, all! So, this should be an interesting chapter…I don't have a plan yet for this story…I know where I want it to end, and I knew where I wanted it to begin. Besides that…well…I'll probably end up figuring that out as it comes. There will probably be chapters where it is just the Marauders, and chapters where it is just Leah…and yes, I know she has a lot of classes-which you will see in this chapter—but I'm working on a schedule for her right now, so she should have time for all of her classes. I think. As she says, they're not all on one day, so it's a bit easier to plan out.
I should probably get back to the story, but a brief announcement…if any of my "Why Jack Cried" readers are reading this story (and I know biankies is, at least the last chapter), I have finished the outline/plan for that story, and will be starting work on Chapter 3 soon. I meant to this weekend, while I had Mid-Semester Break, but I didn't finish the plan until Saturday, and then had to work seven hours yesterday at school, and then am going to visit my school today, so…rest assured, I shall have it up soon.
DISCLAIMER I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER AND NEVER WILL I JUST WANT JAMES AND LILY TO STILL BE ALIVE!
Responses to reviews:
Biankies: Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Again, much thanks to my beta, FansieFace! Love ya!
NON-CLIFFHANGER ALERT! (I usually write too many cliffhangers…so it is a big surprise when a chapter is actually resolved!)
Please enjoy "The Leah Chronicles" Chapter 2!
Upon arriving at the castle, the five entered the Great Hall. By this point, Lily and Severus had joined them. Of course James and Sirius were making fun of Severus, and he was snarking back at them, which meant that Lily was yelling at James and Sirius. It also meant that Remus, Peter, and Leah were smirking at each other and rolling their eyes. It wasn't technically even the first day back yet, and the three boys were going after each other already. Leah was holding back a loud laugh, and she could tell the others were as well.
As they entered, Leah was shoved from behind. She jerked around to see Montair glaring at her, followed by two of his friends, Adolph and Bennett. She growled at him, and kept moving. "Do you want us to hex him?" Peter asked. Leah scowled after the Slytherins, but ended up shaking her head. "No, it's all right. I'll sit on the opposite side of the tale of them, so they can't do anything to me. Plus, the returning Quidditch team members always sit together for at least the first meal, so I'll have them to help me out." The boys nodded, and then all four waved as Leah went over to the Ravenclaw table. The rest of her team was sitting at about the middle of the table, and Leah slid into a seat that Elliot Marxer and Joseph Merinor, two of the team's three Chasers, had left between them. "Hey, Leah-how was your train ride?" Elliot queried. Leah chuckled dryly. "Oh, not too bad…got to know some Gryffindor fifth-years, had a run-in with Montair…so, pretty much the usual."
"Which part is the usual one-meeting some Gryffindors, or having a run-in with Montair?"
"Unfortunately, the latter. And come on-you two know me and people don't mix!" The rest of her team chuckled. Joel Stienson, their Captain-who was a sixth-year and their Seeker-rolled his eyes, before leaning in a bit. "Listen up-our first practice is in a couple days. We play Gryffindor first, and we all know how tough they were last year. We're going to start getting ready early to be sure we're prepared to play them." His teammates nodded, looking serious. One of Ravenclaw's largest source of pride, besides being naturally intelligent or clever, was their Quidditch team. The team had been doing extremely well lately, and they always prepared well before every match. They hadn't won every game, but they gave their best in every game, which their House loved to watch. (And it didn't hurt that they usually ended up beating their school rivals, Hufflepuff.) As they ate, Leah looked up to see Montair giving her a dark scowl as he started to lumber to his feet. He was stopped, however, by Cooper and Carter Rodgers, Ravenclaw's Beaters. They were tall and muscular, and were very protective of their teammates. If they knew anyone who was bullying a teammate of theirs, they would hunt them down and teach them a lesson. They had found out about Montair beating Leah up last year by chancing upon the two in a dark third floor corridor. Montair wouldn't go anywhere near Leah when Cooper and Carter were around.
The rest of the night and morning passed smoothly, and soon it was Leah's study hall period. Professor Flitwick had pretty much forced her to take this hour and a half long break, since she was taking loads of challenging classes. Apparently, fifth year and seventh year was supposed to be the most challenging years, not fourth…but it seemed like Leah hadn't gotten that memo. She was currently working her way through a complex Arithmancy equation when a soft object hit her in the back of the neck. She quickly flipped around to see Sirius waving at her as he chucked another marshmallow at her. She groaned, rubbing her neck. "Sirius-I'm trying to study here! I have twelve different assignments to finish today!" As Leah turned back towards her homework, she felt four large bumps on the table.
"How do you already have so much homework? It's only been the first day of class!"
"Yes, James, and all of my classes gave me homework. Which means I have a lot of homework."
"What classes are you taking?" Remus queried, sitting down and looking at her planner. Leah sighed. "Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Muggle Studies, Transfiguration, Potions, Arithmancy, Study of Ancient Runes, Ancient Studies, Frog Choir, Magic Theory, Ghoul Studies, and Music. Not all in one day, of course, but…" She sighed. "I've already got a headache from my classes today…and it's only the first day of classes."
"Why are you taking so many classes?" Peter queried. "I can barely get through mine without help as it is."
"Because they're all things that interest me. Plus, I don't know what I want to do outside of school yet…and apparently I have an aptitude for all of them." She rolled her eyes. "I just need to get through today and get my homework done quickly. I can't exactly feel my brain at the moment."
The Marauders chuckled. James leaned loosely against Sirius on top of the table, while Peter sat across from them and Remus next to Leah. The five friends stayed there for a while, later joined by members of the Ravenclaw and Gryffindor Quidditch teams, as well as Marlene McKinnon, Mary McDonald, and Lily Evans. James and Sirius usually skated through classes without having to do much homework, so they began to play Exploding Snap, getting ashes all over their friends.
"Excuse me, Mr. Potter, Mr. Black…but I believe the purpose of study hall is that students actually use the time to study-not for frivolous pursuits." Everyone turned around to see Professor McGonagall standing there with an eyebrow raised. Leah squeaked nervously and turned back to her homework. She was absolutely terrified of Professor McGonagall, even though she highly enjoyed Transfiguration. McGonagall was a teacher who accepted no nonsense in her class, and Leah was always afraid that she was going to make a fool of herself in the class.
"Sorry, Professor…we just didn't want Leah here to go brain dead from all of her studying-and on the first day, too! I mean, she is a brilliant student, but even she needs to lighten up sometime!" James declared, reaching over and poking Leah in the side. Leah rolled her eyes and lightly shoved Sirius, knocking both of the older boys off of the table. McGonagall looked at Remus, who grinned and nodded. "Well…I suppose some well mannered frivolity is acceptable…so long as you do not cause one of my best students to forget all of her studies!" She smiled at Leah, who grinned shyly at her feet. "If she keeps working as hard as she already is, she could show the four of you a thing or two pretty soon." With those words, McGonagall walked off, leaving the children staring behind her. "You're lucky, Leah…she's never said anything like that to us. All she said to Cooper and I last class was, 'Finish your mushroom, Mr. Rodgers.'". Carter murmured. At the weird looks the others gave him, he rolled his eyes. "We were changing dinner plates into mushrooms…I hadn't finished mine yet, apparently."
"Yeah-because it looked like a plate on a stem!" Cooper chuckled. The others laughed at him, and Carter sighed, putting his face in his hands.
"At least yours didn't grow legs and run off under a table. They still can't find it…" Peter muttered, causing everyone to erupt into laughter again. James (who, along with Sirius, had finally climbed back onto the table) slapped Peter on the back. "Don't worry, Wormtail-I'm sure you'll get it eventually. We have all year, you know."
"Why do you call him that?" The Marauders looked over at Leah, who was staring quizzically at them. "Last night, on the train…you three called each other 'Prongs', 'Padfoot', and 'Moony'….and you just called him 'Wormtail'…why?" The four boys looked at each other nervously. Sure, there was a good reason behind their nicknames…but they didn't really know if they wanted Leah to know. At least, not yet. Remus shook his head, which indicated to the other three that they would have to improvise.
"Well…" Sirius began, "…it's because of our Patronuses." Leah's eyes lit up (she still had not been able to conjure a full-fledged Patronus), and at her nodding, he continued. "We came up with little nicknames for each other once we saw what shape they took. For example, James's was a stag with HUGE antlers-"
"Not that big!"
"You're not the one telling the story! Anyways, it was a stag with…very large…antlers, and so we began to call James 'Prongs' because of his stag's large antlers." Leah chuckled quietly. "What about you three?"
"Well, Sirius is 'Padfoot' because his is a dog, and…dogs have pads…on their feet…it was James's idea, so…"
"What is this-'Gang Up on James Potter Day'?"
"Shush, James. To continue, Peter's nickname is 'Wormtail' because his Patronus is a rat, and mine is 'Moony' because my Patronus is a wolf." Remus finished. Leah nodded.
"Oh, I get it now…and that's super awesome! I wish I could conjure a Patronus…but it's a bit beyond me at the moment…at least getting the actual animal instead of the giant white blob is." The boys grinned at her. "You'll get it at some point, I know it. I'll bet you anything you want from Honeydukes that you'll get it by the end of this year." Sirius responded. Leah looked at him for a moment, surprised, but then smiled and shook his outstretched hand. "Bet accepted." she murmured. Then, she checked her watch. "Oh crap-I have to be in class in twenty minutes…and it's on the other side of the castle…" She grabbed her wand from where it was resting on the table, murmured, "Scourgify!", and all of her school supplies and books flew back into her bag. "I'll see you guys later!" she said, starting to head off. The Marauders waved. "See ya later, Newt!" Sirius called back.
Leah froze, immediately spinning back to face them. "What did you just call me?"
"Newt." Sirius said. "I figured it'd be a good nickname for you, since you're so concerned with learning and school…and since 'Owl' or 'Owley' wouldn't really sound as good…" He cut off as Leah darted over to give him a quick hug, beaming brightly as she did so. "Thanks, Sirius." she muttered softly, before starting out again for her classes. Sirius grinned, before cockily leaning back against James and eating a marshmallow. "You know, I think we're going to get through this O. W. L. year just fine."
"Speak for yourself…I'll be surprised if I pass anything!" Peter squeaked. Remus put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Peter-you'll get it eventually. Until then, you'll have to deal with these nitwits who don't have to study to do well."
"Because studying's boring!" James protested. "There's much more fun things to be doing, like goofing around, pranking people, pranking Snivillus, playing Quidditch-"
"Don't you mean losing at Quidditch?" Joel teased. "You're playing Ravenclaw first, and you know that you're going to go down in flames."
It then came to the entire tables attention that-with the exception of Leah, who had just left-the entirety of the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Quidditch teams were seated at one table. When asked later what the commotion was all about, all anyone would say was, "It was just some harmless Quidditch practice, Professor." To which the Professor-usually McGonagall-would respond, "First off, there is no possible way that you could practice Quidditch indoors. Secondly, this 'harmless' practice ended with six first-years getting hit in the eyes with ink pots. How in the world is that 'harmless'?"
A/N 2: Well…this was utter and total word vomit… I highly enjoyed it, though, and I hope you did as well. The next chapter should be up at some point…I have 3 different multi-chapters to work on, plus like 5 one-shots…augh. Why do I love writing so much? ;) Also, in case you were wondering…yes, I will be writing the Ravenclaw-Gryffindor Quidditch game. I'm just not sure who's going to win yet. Hopefully I'll figure that out soon!
I have to go for now (visiting my high school choir today-YAY!), so I'll talk to you all later!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you soon!
God bless,
1monster2
