Chapter Two
The Marauder Compartment

Victoria slipped her Potions textbook back into her one-of-a-kind French designer bag – she had taken to carrying some sort of book with her wherever she went, in an attempt to look smart, and subsequently raise her grades. As she often told Lily, everyone has their own studying technique.

She sighed and looked out of the window. The sun was hidden behind a cloud, and the countryside looked bleak compared to the incessantly hot beaches of France. She was bored already, and they hadn't even reached Hogwarts.

Suddenly, the carriage door opened, and Lily and Amos walked in, their arms wrapped in each other. Lily barely said hello to her, before they collapsed onto the seat and began kissing.

Victoria smirked to herself and stood up. "I'll see you later, Lily," she said loudly, slinging her bag over her shoulder. She slammed the compartment door shut behind her, and the glass shook frailly.

It was only once she was out in the corridor that she realised she didn't quite know where to go. There was always Marlene, Mary and Emmeline, the other Gryffindor girls – they were fun, but a completely inseparable trio. It was awkward talking to them.

She strolled down the corridor, twirling her Elder-wood wand between her fingers, watching the colours of her neon-pink nail varnish and the cream of her wand blend together.

"Watch where you're going," a voice snapped irritably, and she looked up.

Sirius Black, best friend of James Potter and womanizer of Hogwarts was hopping on one foot and rubbing the other with a scowl on his undeniably handsome face. His dark shaggy hair fell into his grey eyes – it had gotten even longer than usual over the summer. He was somewhat short, and made up for his height in muscle and width, whereas she was tall, athletic and slender. When he straightened up, the two were almost the same height, Sirius only a few inches taller.

Victoria and James had known each other for as long as they could remember – their families were good friends, and they had spent many summers together. In fact, both she and Sirius had spent almost all of the summer before third year at the Potter manor. The following year, the three of them holidayed in a wizarding village of Cornwall during the Easter holidays. She was pretty good friends with them, at least outside of Hogwarts anyway.

"Sorry," she raised an eyebrow at him and continued walking, wondering where she was going to spend the rest of the train journey. There was always the Slytherins...

"Why aren't you with Evans?" he called after her. Victoria could hear the teasing in his voice. She stopped. "You're always with her, right?"

"Lily is with her boyfriend," she said, spinning around to face him. Other than Remus, the Marauders never called Lily by her first name.

Sirius smiled knowingly and cocked his head to the side. "Come and sit with us," he said, a statement rather than a suggestion.

Victoria shrugged. "Are the rumours true?" she asked, as they walked towards the Marauders' compartment. "James is Head Boy?"

"Yep," Sirius grinned widely. "Never would have believed it myself. Dumbledore's going crazy, if you ask me. And you'd think James would be over the moon, but he's just moping and feeling sorry for himself."

"Why's that?"

"Same reason you were. Evans and Diggory,"

Victoria scoffed. "Tell him to get over it."

"Tell him yourself," Sirius slid open the door and held it open for her, as they entered the compartment. Peter Pettigrew, the fourth marauder, was sitting by the window, a muggle comic book lying on his lap. He was reading it intently, stopping only to show it to Remus who was sitting beside him and reaching into his bag for a large bar of Honeydukes' chocolate. He smiled up at her as she walked in.

"Kensington," James said dully, barely looking up at her from his seat on the floor of the train. His jet black hair was messier than usual – it looked as though he'd just woken up.

"Must you call me by my last name? I'm not Lily," she sighed in exasperation, sitting down opposite Remus. Sirius lay across the seat, his head resting against Remus' shoulder.

"Unfortunately," James said simply, and she thumped his shoulder lightly.

"He just wants to refer to Lily with every sentence," Remus chuckled, unwrapping the chocolate. He had already changed into his Hogwarts uniform, though he wasn't wearing his robes. Carelessly, he pushed up the sleeves of his grey school jumper.

Victoria gasped, before she could stop herself. Up and down both his arms were deep red scars that couldn't have been more than a few days old. Four pair of eyes flickered to her in shock, and Remus pulled his sleeves down sharply.

"Broomstick accident. He crashed," Sirius explained, patting Remus on the back. He winced slightly in pain, under Sirius' heavy thud. "So, looking forward to going back to school guys?" he said awkwardly, as Remus scrutinised Victoria's facial expression, wondering if she had noticed anything wrong.

"Hey Vic, you know why Sirius is so excited to get back to school, right?" James said, grinning suddenly. Sirius turned a deep shade of red. Sirius Black – blushing?

"Professor Asher, the only reason we all took Astronomy," James laughed, not even able to keep a straight face. Professor Carla Asher was the youngest and most lusted after member of staff at Hogwarts – her class was always over-crowded with applicants; 99% boys.

"It's a miracle you lot even made it into the NEWT class," Victoria chuckled. "Ridiculous schoolboy crushes."

"It's not a 'schoolboy crush'!" Sirius yelled, his attractive face pouting, "We have a relationship. Or at least, we will soon. You mark my words."

Remus scoffed, snapping his chocolate into pieces. He threw a large chunk across to Victoria, who caught it delicately. Her eyes focused on him, as he read opened up a thick book and began reading it avidly. His fair hair caught the sunlight streaming through the window, and the long summer had given him cute brown freckles and honey coloured highlights.

He glanced up, noticing her staring at him, and she averted her gaze embarrassedly.


Chapter Two, hope you enjoyed.
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Ash, x