Hey guys! So, in my story, Ayesha is one of the Five Marauders (hence the name Five). Not just a girl that the Marauders know, but an actual Marauder. All events occur with this in mind – although what is canon has not been changed.
I hope you enjoy it!
"Do you mind? Everywhere else is full," I asked, poking my head into the first compartment where the occupants weren't too huge or already enthusiastically conversing.
"Not at all," one of the boys answered. He looked all too happy, with his shining silver eyes and laughing face. I took a seat next to the window after putting my trunk in the racks with some help from him. The compartment had two other people - the boy who I'd seen outside the platform (he grinned at me) and a girl with curly red hair. She was looking out the window with tears in her eyes.
"Are you okay?" I asked carefully, not knowing how she would react.
She turned to me. "I'm fine," she said, turning back to the window.
I shrugged, pulling my camera out of my rucksack along with a book. As the two black haired boys started bonding over Quidditch - a very popular sport played on broomsticks in mid-air, apparently - I opened my book, but kept an eye out on the scenery to capture in my camera.
Suddenly, the door opened, allowing another boy to enter. He was already wearing his school robes. Looking around, he ignored everybody else and proceeded to sit next to the crying girl. They talked in whispers, allowing me to return to my book.
"Slytherin?"
The boy with the messy hair was apparently listening to the conversation, and had jumped in with his opinions. Neither the girl nor the new boy liked them - a fact proved by their furious exit from the compartment.
"Umm..." The two boys turned to face me. "If you don't mind me asking, what's Slytherin?"
They looked at me like I was asking them why chocolate tastes good. "Are you muggleborn?" the boy with the glasses asked.
"Yeah."
They relaxed. "Slytherin is one of the school houses," the other boy explained. "Along with Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I'm Serious, by the way."
"And I'm Joking," the other boy said, trying to hold back a laugh, by the looks of it.
I looked at them, bemused as Serious glared at Joking, before I replied, "And I'm Confused."
Serious looked at me for a minute before he started laughing like a mad man. "That one, I haven't heard before!"
Joking frowned. "So your name's actually Serious? Blimey, I thought you were joking!"
"No, you're Joking," I said, trying to keep a straight face with Serious still laughing.
"No, I'm James, Confused."
It was my turn to laugh. "Can we all just introduce ourselves properly?"
Serious finally sobered up. "Right, I'm Sirius Black. S-i-r-i-u-s."
"Is your middle name Lee?" James asked. "Okay, no more name jokes!" he exclaimed as Sirius sent another glare his way. "James Potter."
"Ayesha Cooper," I smiled, putting my book back into the rucksack. I had a feeling I wouldn't need it on the train anymore. "And this is Bonnie," I said, shoving a few owls treats into her cage.
"That's Hiccups," James said, pointing at his own Tawny owl.
"Hiccups?" Sirius smirked.
"I had a case of the hiccups when he scared me out of them in the menagerie."
"So... What's so bad about Slytherin that you don't wanna be in it?" I asked.
"Almost every dark witch or wizard in recent times has been from Slytherin," James said. "No offence to your family, Sirius."
"None taken," Sirius said easily. "My family is evil."
"So you're writing off a quarter of the student population because some of them turned bad?" I wasn't agreeing with them, but they did seem to know more about Hogwarts than me.
"It's difficult to explain, but you'll see what we mean," Sirius said seriously.
"Okay," I still wasn't satisfied, but I could always ask later. "What about the other houses?"
"Well, Ravenclaws are smart," James grinned. "I mean really smart. And Hufflepuffs are just about the kindest and fairest people you'll ever meet. But Gryffindor," his voice took on a deeper tone, "that's where dwell the brave at heart!"
I smiled. "So how do they pick who goes in which house?" I asked, taking out a chocolate bar.
"They make you wear a hat," Sirius said, "it can read your thoughts, so it tells you which house you belong in."
"That's interesting... Chocolate?" I offered.
"Is this muggle chocolate?" Sirius asked curiously, taking a piece and sniffing it.
"I guess?... Wizards have different chocolate too?"
James smirked. "Of course... I might have something in my bag..."
"Anything off the trolley dears?" We looked at the door, where an elderly witch was pushing a trolley filled with what were most definitely magical sweets. I found myself buying a box of almost everything the trolley had to offer.
Hours later, with almost all the Cauldron Cakes gone, Chocolate Frog cards swapped, Every Flavour Beans tasted and liquorice wands chewed, James, Sirius and I were playing Exploding Snap. I had the extraordinary luck of not having the cards explode in my face even once.
"Are you sure you haven't played this before?" James narrowed his eyes at me, which looked quite funny as his eyebrows were completely singed.
"I told you, I haven't! Where would I have gotten the cards, or learnt the game?"
"You're mighty good for a first timer," Sirius said.
"Might just be beginners luck," I scrambled to the window with my camera when I spotted a field of sunflowers.
"That's nice," James saw the picture as I fanned it out to dry.
"Thanks," I smiled, and then quickly snapped two photos of the boys.
"What was that for?" Sirius cried.
"First friends I made in Hogwarts, of course!" I pulled out the two new prints.
James was staring at his photo strangely. "It's weird, not seeing your picture moving."
"You can make photos move?" I asked incredulously. "How?!"
"There's a potion you get to put in the ink," James explained.
I was about to ask for more details when the door opened again. Standing in the doorway was a girl, with platinum blonde hair, maybe sixteen or seventeen. She stood in a manner which suggested she'd rather be somewhere else and her face scrunched up as she looked around the compartment. Sirius had frozen, and it was then that I noticed a certain resemblance.
"Sirius," she said in a high voice. "Didn't Auntie Wal tell you to sit with us?"
Sirius broke out of staring at her and shrugged. "I'd prefer to make my own friends, Cissy."
"With the likes of her?" she barely even looked in my direction as she jerked her head towards me.
I sensed a bit of tension seeping into the room; James had gone very still, and Sirius had almost jumped out of his seat. It might not have been the best idea, but I decided to intervene.
"Of course, he'd prefer to sit with me," I said, keeping a light and airy tone. The three of them turned to face me, confused. "Look at me, I'm adorable!" I tried to make myself seem so by opening my eyes wide and blinked a few times.
James laughed out loud, almost falling off his seat. Sirius stared at me for a few seconds, smirked and turned back to Narcissa, who looked scandalized.
"You are nothing but a mudblood," Narcissa said, apparently disgusted by the fact.
James stopped laughing at once, and Sirius stood up.
"Don't talk to my friends like that," he said, his voice almost a whisper, but strong as steel. Narcissa looked scared, even though she was a good head taller than Sirius. "Leave, now." He shut the door on her face, and then turned around.
"She is completely crazy!" he muttered, falling back into his seat. "I'm sorry about her, Ayesha."
"Why are you apologizing for her?" I asked.
Sirius looked up at me. "She's my first cousin. Crazy like the rest of my family."
"So? That doesn't make you responsible for what she says or does. You still shouldn't apologize."
"She wouldn't have called you that if it wasn't for me!" Sirius exclaimed.
"What, a mudblood?" Both boys flinched. "What does that mean?"
"It's a derogative name for witches or wizards born to muggles," James explained. "Not something you hear every day." He went on to explain the concept of blood purity, which both boys reassured me they did not believe in.
"If your whole family believes in blood purity, how did you learn any different?" I asked Sirius. "Wouldn't you also be like them, because you'd never have met anyone who thought differently!"
He smiled faintly. "I used to – but I always asked why we're better. My parents didn't like that. I also knew a couple of people – my uncle, he told me that those ideals are rubbish. And then last year, my cousin Andie – Cissy's sister – she ran off and married a muggleborn, Ted Tonks. My family disowned her, even tried to kill her, but she escaped. She told me before she did it, and why, and I finally understood. We're all the same, but my family's the one that's crazy."
"You still shouldn't need to apologize," I told Sirius, a bit shaken that his family could consider killing their own child for marrying outside their circle. "I didn't even know what she meant then. Now –" I said, before Sirius or James could open their mouths again. "What are these?" I held up a few marbles, which looked very sinister.
James snorted. "Gobstones. Why don't you give them a little squeeze?"
"I'm guessing something bad happens, so no."
"Black, Sirius!"
Sirius took a deep breath and walked forward to the stool, sitting down and allowing Professor McGonagall to place the hat on his head. Unlike the previous times, the hat didn't declare his house instantly and fell quiet.
"I hope he's in Gryffindor," James murmured.
"So do I," I replied quietly. "What d'you think is taking so long?"
Just as James was about to reply, the hat made its decision.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Yes!" James hissed, and I couldn't help beaming - Sirius escaped Slytherin, and his family's wishes. He took off the hat with a huge grin, winked in our direction and proceeded towards the Gryffindor table.
But it seemed like the three of us were the only ones who were happy - the hall was silent. It was only when Sirius was halfway to his seat that the Gryffindors started clapping - but only half-heartedly.
"Not what they were expecting?" I muttered.
"Definitely."
"Cooper, Ayesha!"
"Good luck," James smiled as I walked towards the hat and sat down. As soon as the hat as on my head, it started talking in my head.
Hmmm... A difficult one... But not as difficult as the one before you...
So that's why he'd taken so long with Sirius... Difficult to place.
A friend of yours, I see, he continued. Strong bonds are developing, despite the length of the relationship.
He's a nice person, I tried to tell a hat.
I see a deep sense of trust and loyalty in you, along with a lot of courage. These are traits of a true Gryffindor.
I felt elated - I wanted nothing more than to be in Gryffindor, with Sirius and James, who would most likely be there, if his opinion was considered.
But you have an intelligence streak which rivals the most brilliant minds I have come across, he continued, dampening my spirits. Your place is more in Ravenclaw than anywhere else.
Has every intelligent mind always been in Ravenclaw? That would mean all the other students failed all the time.
Hmmm... That mind would do brilliant things in Ravenclaw...
I sighed internally, hoping against hope that I'd be placed with my friends.
Or would you be better off in Hufflepuff? With that worth ethic and sense of equality and loyalty you may change the way the world works.
Really, Hat? Are you going to say I'm a good Slytherin next? Isn't your job supposed to be to pick one House?
Careful girl. Your house determines your entire trajectory in life. And there are plans. Grand plans, which you barely even know of... And to fulfil them you must be in...
"GRYFFINDOR!"
The last word sounded across the entire Hall, and I couldn't believe my luck as I heard what the Hat decided. I thanked the Hat and jumped off the stool as soon as the hat cleared my head. Walking towards the Gryffindor table and amidst the applause, I caught sight of James - he was grinning like a Cheshire cat. I sat down next to Sirius.
"We made it!" I said happily.
"And so will James," Sirius said as Annabeth Davies went to Hufflepuff.
"How are you so sure?" I frowned as Matthew Davies, Annabeth's twin, most likely, went to Ravenclaw. "Twins in different houses?"
"It can happen," Sirius shrugged. "And James will be here, don't worry."
Sirius groaned when the red-haired girl from earlier – Lily Evans – joined the Gryffindors and sat down next to me. Since I would probably have to share a dorm with her, I smiled and introduced myself.
"Oi!" Sirius barked at the girl who was settling herself across Sirius. "You mind leaving a seat empty, I'm saving it for a friend."
She smiled, flipping her long blonde hair back. "Sure." She slid two seats down.
As we waited for James to join us, three others got into Gryffindor; Remus Lupin, a sandy haired boy who looked like he needed to sleep, Mary MacDonald, a skinny girl with brown curls down her back and Peter Pettigrew, a tiny bloke who seemed nervous in the new surroundings.
Finally, it was James's turn. The Sorting Hat had barely touched his head before, "GRYFFINDOR!"
"I told you!" Sirius yelled as he waved for James to come join us.
"We're all together!" James exclaimed as he slid onto the bench. "Now, I'm hungry."
Sirius and I looked at each other. Come to think of it, we actually were hungry.
"Me too," Sirius admitted. "Although I forgot about it until two seconds ago."
"The sorting should be over in a few," I said reassuringly. "Look, he's the last one."
After Jonathan Taylor became a Gryffindor, the applause died down and the older students were looking longingly at their plates.
Professor Dumbledore stood up, instantly silencing whatever whispers there might have been.
"To the new students, welcome!" he said in a grandfatherly voice. "To the old, welcome back! There are a few announcements to be made, but they can wait till we satisfy our stomachs, so tuck in!"
A few of the older students cheered as he sat down, and suddenly, the platters in front of us were full with all sorts of food imaginable.
"Food!" James and Sirius jumped on the tray of chicken in front of them, earning a disapproving glare from Lily.
"There's enough for both of you!" I tried to sneak out a piece with James and Sirius fighting over the biggest piece.
"Aha!" Sirius cried victoriously, leaving James in a slightly grumpy mood until the desserts came out, by which time I had stuffed myself.
"Honestly, I can't eat another - chocolate pudding!"
Sirius and James looked at me, my mouth already stuffed with the pudding I'd scooped up straight from the dish, with curious faces.
"What? I love chocolate, okay? And you're not allowed to judge."
"Hey," Sirius raised his hands. "I didn't say anything against chocolate."
After dinner was over, Dumbledore made a few announcements - no going in the forest, Quidditch trials, no banned items, and the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Jones. The strangest announcement - because it was received with murmurs from the older students - was to stay away from a new tree on the grounds, the Whomping Willow.
"I shall leave you with a few words of intelligence - Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus!"
"Is he a bit mad?" I asked James.
"He's a genius, of course he's mad! Come on, the prefects are calling us..."
"Those weren't intelligent words!" I argued, walking down the table to the end of the hall. That meant 'Never tickle a sleeping dragon'!"
"How did you know that?" Sirius asked. "That is intelligent advice, you wouldn't want to really tickle a sleeping dragon, although if it didn't actually wake up, and you tickled it in a spot where it wouldn't feel it…"
"I learnt Latin in the summer," I confessed, stopping Sirius's wayward thoughts of dragon-tickling and following the other first years out of the hall.
"Why?"
I stared at Sirius. "Because I wanted to! What other reason could be there?"
He shrugged. "Well, it could be –"
"Pay attention first years!" a voice called from ahead. "The stairs like to change!"
I watched wonderingly as the stairs in front of us turned, coming to a rest at the foot of the line.
We walked across the magnificent castle, climbing up seven floors before coming to a halt in front of a portrait of a really fat lady.
"This is The Fat Lady," the prefect said.
"Such an imaginative name!" James whispered, earning sniggers from Sirius and me and a glare from the boy in front of us.
With James and Sirius as my friends, I could tell a lot more glares - amongst other things - would be thrown in our direction over the next seven years.
James Potter
I fell on my new four-poster bed with a huge sigh. Not that my bed at home hadn't been as comfortable, but it had been a long day. A very long day with many new people, new places, a new home.
There were four other people in the dorm with me. Sirius, of course, along with Remus Lupin, Jonathan Taylor and Peter Pettigrew. I didn't know what they'd be like, since they hardly talked in the five minutes before we all went to bed.
I turned my head to the left, where Sirius was apparently already fast asleep. He seemed like a good guy at first, and then he stood up against his family to defend someone he just met. I had a feeling we were going to be best friends.
Or whatever is better than best friends.
And then there were the girls. I knew two of them from before Hogwarts – Alice Adams and Caroline Forbes were regulars at functions held at the Potter residence. There was Lily Evans, who I managed to insult as soon as I opened my mouth to talk to her. Even at the Gryffindor table during dinner, she barely looked in my direction. I didn't think we were ever going to be friends – especially if she was going to be around that greasy haired Slytherin all the time.
But she had pretty eyes. And hair like fire.
And finally, Ayesha. She was so lively, so uninhibited on the train, talking back to Narcissa Black, secure about things like the war against muggleborns. Plus, she beat Sirius and me at Exploding Snap. She was going to be a good friend.
Or whatever is better than a good friend.
As I fell asleep, a single thought played across my mind. It's going to be a good seven years.
Isabelle Cooper
A wave of sorrow swept through me as Mum let me into the house. Because it was the first time in a long time that it was Mum who answered the door.
Bunny was gone.
She wasn't there to jump and grab me in a tight bear hug. She wasn't there for me to pry her off and pinch her cheeks. She wasn't there to ask me about my day, with way more enthusiasm than any eleven-year-old should be allowed to have. She wasn't there to ask how things went with Ted today, and whether he asked me out or not.
Dinner was a subdued affair. Mum and Dad were talking in clipped sentences, trying to show some interest in today's events, but I knew that they missed Bunny. I did, too. So, I excused myself and went to bed early, thinking about the past two months.
At first, when she got that letter, I was mad. Why didn't I get a magical ticket into another world, a hidden world, when I was eleven? It was an irrational thought, but I held on to it.
She went on about her new world, reading her new books, with her wonderful new history, spells, enchantments. Sometimes I went into her room and 'borrowed' a book or two. Magical history, I realized, was terribly in sync with ours. I yearned to learn more about it, but I knew, I would never be a part of their world.
I never showed that side of me to Bunny though. I loved her too much to let her know that I was jealous of her, of her new life. And that love made me see how that jealousy was too petty to hold on to. The only thing that mattered was that my little Bunny was special.
Resigning myself to the fact that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep anytime soon on my own bed, I got up and quietly crossed the hall to Bunny's room. Just one night, I told myself. Just this once.
Opening her bedroom door, I tiptoed in and closed the door behind me. I flipped on the lights, only to get startled by a huge shape on the bed.
It was a stuffed bunny, with a note.
So that you'll always have a Bunny to cuddle with – B.