Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its universe (sadly!). It's all property of J.K Rowling's brilliant mind.
Harry Potter - The Marauders Era
"The Princess Marauder"
November, 1971 - First Year
"Very well class," Professor Slughorn began, "now that we have covered the basic notions of simple venom antidotes, I would like you to open your books on page 26 and follow the instructions for the Boil Cure Potion. By the end of today's class I expect you and your desk partner to have brewed a perfect coconotion for me to grade. Go on now; let's get to work!"
Easy for him to say, I thought angrily as I tossed some porcupine quills into my cauldron. He wasn't the one stuck with my idiot cousin...
I watched Sirius hunching over a different textbook than the one required for class, pretending to read the instructions, grinning like a maniac, and I suppressed a groan. This was not going to end well for me. I just knew it wouldn't.
"We need spider legs!"
I shot him a look. "Whatever for? That's not what it says in the ingredients."
"Trust me; I'm a natural born Potions Master!"
"Of course you are," I said, rolling my eyes, "and I'm Joscelind Wadcock."
"You are? That's fantastic! I'm a great fan of yours, I must say," Sirius quipped as he picked up a vial with spider legs.
I reached out to snatch it from his hand but he raised the flask above his head. Not entirely fair on his part since he was quite a bit taller than me already. "You are not going to put that in my potion, Sirius Black!" I argued, jumping to grab the vial.
He moved it higher, scoffing, "It's OUR potion, so I'll put in it whatever I want!"
"I said–"
Before I even had the chance to finish my sentence, Sirius poured the spider legs into the cauldron. I watched in horror as my once pale blue potion turned into a horrid shade of green and started sizzling, coughing out clouds of smoke. Then it burst. The sound reverberated throughout the entire classroom, and since I was closest to the cauldron it exploded on my face.
I sputtered smoke, blinking to clear my sight. My hair felt awfully pasty. Why was my hair so pasty?
Beside me, Sirius broke into a fit of laughter and I could hear James doing exactly the same while sitting at the desk in front of ours. Idiots! They were complete barbaric idiots! As soon as I got my hands on my wand I was definitely going to hex them into the lake and let the giant squid have them for lunch.
"A-Aurora, y-your hair!" Remus stuttered, trying to hold back his laughter, pointing his finger at me. In panic, I tugged my hair free and pulled the ends to my face, widening my eyes.
"You turned my hair green!" I screeched, shooting glares at Sirius, wishing I could burn a whole through his thick skull. "Bloody buffoon, turn it back to normal right now! Right now, Sirius!"
He ignored me as he continued to howl with laughter, slapping his hands on the table with tears in the corners of his eyes. I never wanted to kill someone as bad as I wanted to kill him.
Thankfully (for him of course), Professor Slughorn walked up to us, face concerned. "Oh my! Are you alright, dear?" he asked, inspecting my now lime green hair.
"Yes, professor, but my hair..." I trailed off hopelessly.
"No need to worry, dear. I'll turn your lovely hair back to normal as soon as class is over."
I paled. "Only when it's over?! But, professor–"
"Now now, Miss Rosier," he interrupted in a scolding manner. "You were the one who decided to experiment with other ingredients. It's only fair you suffer the consequences of your actions."
I gaped as Professor Slughorn walked off, shaking his head. I turned to Sirius with a scowl. He flashed me a devilish grin.
"I'm going to kill you," I hissed. "I'm going to kill you too, James. And if you dare to laugh like them, I'll kill you as well, Remus!"
Remus pursed his lips, trying to hold back, but he was soon joining the other two. Bloody brilliant, I thought furiously, rolling my eyes. I was surrounded by idiot boys who actually believed they were funny.
By the time that day came to an end, I was about ready to jump off the Astronomy Tower. Aside from having to deal with the little green hair episode, I also ended up making a fool of myself in Care of Magical Creatures by stepping on a Fire Crab which set my robe on fire, and Peeves stole my History of Magic books, so I had to run around the castle trying to catch him and I was twenty-five minutes late for class.
Wasn't Hogwarts supposed to be the beginning of something wonderful? Couldn't have it cured me from my clumsiness and lousy luck?
I sighed dejectedly as I fell on the couch in the Common Room, rubbing my nose on the comfy crimson pillows. I heard someone chuckling. I peered up timidly, finding Remus sitting in an armchair, reading.
"Bad day?"
"What gave that away? Was it my new hair colour, my flaming robes or my tardiness to class?" I replied ironically.
He laughed again. It was nice; Remus had a really pleasant voice. "Your hair's back to normal at least," he offered.
"Thankfully! Can you imagine the scandal of a Gryffindor running around with green hair?"
"Oh yes, how dreadful." Remus rolled his eyes playfully.
I hummed in agreement, moving to sit up. I watched him reading curiously. His eyebrows were knitting together as his hazel green eyes skipped across the book. Occasionally some of his honey-brown hair fell over them and he pushed it back with a swift motion. He had a rather large scar on his left cheek and a few other smaller scratches on his neck.
I wonder how he got those...
When he noticed my stare, he flashed me a smile, making me blush. I cleared my throat nervously.
"So uh, what are you reading?" I asked to cover up my embarrassment. He showed me the book – To Kill a Mockingbird. I just had to smile. "Fancy muggle literature, Remus?"
"I don't understand your surprise. I do have a muggle mother, you know."
"You do?" I leaned over the arm of the couch, watching him more closely. He gave me an odd look. "What is she like? My mom's parents were muggles but I never met them."
Remus lowered the book, his face becoming thoughtful. "Well... she's... interesting, I suppose... Most of my dad's wizard friends can't seem to understand a single joke she makes but that doesn't stop her from trying."
I chuckled, "She sounds wonderful."
"A little eccentric but yes she is, thank you. What about yours?"
"My mom is sort of like a hurricane," I answered with a loving smile. "She's always worried about everything and rushing everywhere. Even though she complains about never getting enough rest, she hates to sit still. My father loves to tease her. I think he sometimes purposely annoys her just to see how long it takes until she loses her temper."
"I bet you do that too," he said, smirking.
"Of course I do! How could I not when she makes it so easy?"
He laughed good-naturedly. "Was she a Gryffindor too?"
"Yes. She was in the Quidditch team and she was really good. In fact, I think she even won Best Keeper of the year."
"Wow, really? Maybe you should go to the try-outs next year."
I shrugged. That was actually an idea that had been swimming around in my head for a while now, but I didn't want to get my hopes up. My mother told me it wasn't easy to cut the team.
"Maybe," I chose to say. "Did anyone from your family play Quidditch?"
"Not that I know of. My father did win the Wizard's Chess Tournament three years in a row though. He was a Ravenclaw." Remus flashed me a sheepish smile.
"Somehow, that's not very hard to picture," I admitted amused. "But I bet you can't guess which house my father was."
He squinted his eyes, thinking hard. I stifled a giggle; he looked funny.
When the couch tipped, I found Sirius joining me. Before I could tell him to bugger off, he dropped a chocolate box on my lap with a toothy grin. I figured it was his way of apologizing.
"What are you two talking about?" he asked as I plopped a heart-shaped truffle into my mouth.
"Remus is trying to guess my father's house." I took another one. Remus was trying, and failing miserably, not to ogle at the chocolates so I offered him the box. The way his eyes lit up had me smirking; I'd found his weak spot.
Sirius snorted, "You won't guess, mate."
"Why not?" Remus asked, stuffing his face with more chocolates. Oh great, now he was going to eat them all. "If her mother was a Gryffindor then he should've been one too, right? Isn't that the most common?"
"Wrong," I said, moving the box away before Remus emptied it. The little devil flashed me a not at all guilty smile.
"Ravenclaw then."
"Wrong again, mate." Sirius leaned back, crossing his arms behind his head with a smirk.
A look of realization flashed across Remus' face. "Don't tell me he was..."
"My father was a Slytherin," I finished when he trailed off.
"But I've always heard Gryffindor and Slytherin couldn't get along even if their lives depended on it!"
"They normally can't. My parents are the exception to the rule," I explained, smiling. Just thinking about my parents and their story made my chest grow warm and fuzzy. "They had everything and everyone against them, and yet they still fell in love. My dad renounced his own family so he could be with my mom... She's always saying he was misplaced in Slytherin because he was a Gryffindor at heart."
I blushed when I noticed both boys staring at me, clearly finding my girly romanticism funny.
"You're so cheesy, 'Ro." Sirius ruffled my hair playfully.
I swatted his hand away with a frown. "Bugger off, Sirius! You used to love that story when we were little."
"Loving it doesn't make it any less corny."
"I don't think it's corny," Remus said, surprising me. He was gazing down at the book on his lap, fingers softly brushing the cover. "I think it's actually rather admirable... Not many people are brave enough to fight for something everyone considers unworthy..."
His words struck a chord in me for some reason. There was a second meaning to them and I wanted desperately to grasp it because, looking at the heart-wrenching hopelessness written in his eyes, I knew it was important that I did.
Remus was hiding something. Sirius and I had noticed he would disappear from time to time and when he returned he seemed exhausted and gloom. Very different than his normal interactive and playful self. When we talked to James about it, he confirmed to have noticed as well, but he didn't want to make Remus feel uncomfortable by probing around too much.
I knew James was probably right on that one (shocking!) and I probably shouldn't pry. Regardless, I was still curious.
Afterwards, Remus resumed his reading and Sirius dared me to an Exploding Snap game. I was about to win for the fifth time when James walked through the portrait hole followed by a short and pudgy boy. He had tawny hair slicked back with far too much wax, and brown eyes that were perhaps two sizes too small for his round, chubby face. He was smiling at James; his two front teeth were larger than the rest. He looked familiar. I could tell he was probably from our year.
As he approached us with James, he saw me and blushed crimson. Clearly he wasn't as socialite as his friend.
"Hey mate, who's your friend?" Sirius asked, glad to have an excuse to avoid having his butt kicked in the game.
"This is Peter. He helped me with my Charms essay!"
I rolled my eyes. "You're supposed to do your homework alone, James."
"Well, he didn't mind, did you Peter?" The boy – Peter – glanced back and forth between us nervously until he eventually shook his head timidly. James flashed me a smug, victorious grin. "See, 'Ro?"
I scrunched my nose at the use of that silly nickname. Only Sirius called me that and I wasn't particularly fond either. I mean, who enjoys being called by a two syllable sound that sounds like the cooing of a bird?
"I would've helped you if you asked me, James," Remus said from his seat.
"Aww, thanks mate!" James perched himself on the arm of his armchair and rubbed his knuckles on Remus' head affectionately.
"You spoil him rotten and then we have to endure his infuriating behaviour," I muttered, shaking my head at my kind-hearted friend.
"Oh relax, it's not like he's taking my exams," James waved off my comment as he plopped next to me on the couch, "it's just homework."
For the sake of my sanity, I chose to ignore him. I turned to Peter, smiling politely in a way I hoped it would ease his nerves. "Would you like to play with me, Peter?" I asked, showing him my Exploding Snap cards.
At first I didn't think he would accept, or answer me for that matter, but then he nodded timidly again. I smiled and moved from the couch to sit on the floor at Remus feet, leaning comfortably against his knees, before gesturing for him to sit in front of me.
Surprisingly, Peter actually turned out to be a rather good player.
