Marauder Memories:

Chapter Two: Gryffindor

Cherish pushed back the scarlet covers to the four-poster that she now slept in. The hangings were red as well, the room was already lit by the window between each of the beds. Cherish pulled back the curtains enough to view her clock.

"7:00," she read out loud to no one in particular. She debated going back to sleep or getting up to grab a bite to eat before lessons. Before she could decide her stomach gave a growl.

That was that, she decided. She got up, made her way to the bathroom and changed into her attire with the red and yellow striped tie, black skirt with grey stockings and black shoes.

"You're awake," she heard when she walked back in. Lily was sitting on her bed, polishing her own black shoes. "Good, do you know how to get to the Great Hall?"

Cherish hadn't really given it much thought. "I think so. Should we wait for Alice?" she gestured to the brown-haired girl who still hadn't shown any signs of showing up any time soon.

Lily hesitated. "Nah, let her sleep for now." The pair gathered their bookbags and headed down. Though she chose a few wrong turns Cherish managed to find a route that led her to the Great Hall.

It was nearly thirty minutes after seven when they finally found the entrance according to Lily's watch. She had a common muggle watch which she reckoned was a good thing since the wizard-watches had planets which made it nearly impossible to tell the actual time.

"I thought we'd never find breakfast," Lily said as she sank into a place on the bench. Cherish sat down next to her companion and kneeled up on the bench to have a better look around.

Looking down the bench she saw that not many other Gryffindors-or really any House-were up and about yet. "I wonder if they've gotten lost," Cherish murmured more to herself than anyone else.

"Who?" Lily asked from her hot scrambled eggs as she put them on toast.

"James," she replied sitting back down and straightening her skirt.

"Which one is he?" Lily asked although it seemed more out of politeness than actual interest.

"The one with messy black hair and those awful glasses," Cherish poured herself a goblet of pumpkin juice.

"Hm," Lily made an odd sound in her throat. Her eyes narrowed.

Cherish looked along the table at all the different options. She finally selected a couple of sizzling sausages and two fried eggs. "What's wrong with James?" she cast a side glance at Lily.

The redhead had wrinkled her nose at the sound of his name. "Nothing. I just don't like him much."

"You don't even know him," Cherish pointed out fairly as she cut up her sausages, popping a bite in her mouth.

"I don't," Lily admitted after a long sip of orange juice and a bite of toast. "But I know his type."

"Meaning?" Cherish probed after a moment.

"Trouble," Lily answered, finishing her toast and looking up as the mail arrived.

Cherish stared as the pack of owls swooped into the Great Hall. Many of the owls' owners were not actually present and so the owls flew around or set to eating pieces of toast.

Lily's owl landed gracefully beside her, folding its wings back and looking around importantly. Lily stroked her owl's head and fed her some bread crumbs and offered her a drink from her own goblet before her owl took off again. Lily unrolled the Daily Prophet and scanned it, flipped to a section and began to read.

"Anything interesting?" Cherish asked taking a slice of toast from a rack.

"Hm, not really," Lily replied over the news. "Only that there's been a few bar fights, one sent to trial for injuries but nothing serious." Lily closed the paper and folded it. "There's a couple of sales in Diagon Alley, too."

"Pass the marmalade, will you?" Cherish began to spread marmalade on her toast now.

Lily gave her a critical look that Cherish ignored. "Are you done with that?" she asked, pointing to Lily's paper. Lily shrugged and Cherish picked it up to read the front cover.

"You're from wizard-parents, right?" Lily asked tentatively.

Cherish lowered the paper slowly. "Wizard-parents?" her voice implied that Lily was treading on a touchy subject.

"What is the term for having wizard-and-witch parents?" Lily asked far more hesitantly than before.

"Pureblood, at least in my case," Cherish answered after a moment. "Same as James and Sirius. We're some of the oldest blood there is. Most all purebloods are related. Sirius and I are probably really distant cousins or something."

"Oh," Lily looked rather confused but smiled anyway.

Cherish returned to the paper, looking at a few ads for dressmakers and debated sending her mother a clipping, perhaps she could get it as a gift for her birthday. Suddenly someone pulled lightly on her hair.

She spun around, dropping the paper to find James grinning above her. "Cher, you're up early," he sounded surprised.

"As are you," Cherish told him with a roll of her eyes.

"But I happen to be a morning person," James gestured to himself as he said it, "You are not," he finished while pointing toward her.

"I couldn't get much sleep," she folded the Daily Prophet and handed it back to Lily.

"Hm," James seemed momentarily distracted, having spotted his parents' owl he ran to fetch it. The owl hopped neatly out of reach and ruffled its feathers as though put out with James.

"Come on," James whined.

Cherish called to it softly, "Come here," she coaxed it holding out the crust of her toast to the speckled owl. It gave a small hoot and fluttered down next to her to eat the toast remains and happily drank several gulps of water from a goblet. Cherish petted the owl, untied the scroll and crumbled more toast for the owl.

"Honestly James, your own owl doesn't even like you," Cherish said as she handed over the scroll of parchment.

James scowled, made a face at her and took the scroll. Next to him, Sirius took a large bite of toast and read over James's shoulder.

Lily returned to her own breakfast, casting a doubtful look at James and Sirius before focusing fixedly on her food.

"He only likes you because you feed him," James retorted as he set the scroll on the table and began to dish himself up sausages and eggs.

Cherish rolled her eyes and picked up the scroll, and when James made no move to stop her she read it. He took in her expression, and shrugged. "He was getting old, Cher. You knew it would happen soon."

"Yes, but not now," Cherish looked downward, her eyes sparkling with tears.

Lily had no idea what was happening, gave Cherish a confused but sympathetic look. James exchanged a glance with Sirius.

"I'm going to find Remus," Sirius excused himself and practically fled the scene.

"Cher," James put an arm around her comfortingly. "He was an old sport horse. You wouldn't have wanted him to suffer. Besides, my parents will get another horse. We have quite a few, you know that."

Cherish nodded, sniffing slightly. James gave her a hug, whispering something in her ear that made her crack a small smile. He then rose and went to where Sirius was sitting with Remus who was half-awake.

Lily gazed after him. "You two are close," she stated after a moment.

Cherish nodded, "He's like a brother to me."

"What about Sirius?" Lily nodded to the other boy with wavy, dark hair and silver eyes.

Cherish glanced at said person before looking back at Lily. "I only just met him."

"He seems like trouble," Lily said as she watched the boys gather around an arm-wrestling match, Sirius and James both cheering on the pair. Her eyes surveyed everything critically.

James glanced toward her, and Cherish gathered her bag and made her way toward the two. Lily picked up her Daily Prophet again and began to read.

Cherish couldn't help but smile with the two boys shouting their encouragement at the wrestling pair. In her eyes Sirius and James had already forged an unbreakable bond of friendship.

Sirius grinned when the one he was rooting for slammed his opponent's hand down. "Cough up," he fixed James with a look of triumph.

James laughed, shoved Sirius and handed over two galleons. Cherish knew it was barely half of his allowance that he got from his parents.

"New students," Lily had appeared again, this time at McGonagall's side. "When I call your name come forward to take your timetable for this term."

Cherish was comparing her timetable with Lily and realized quickly that all the First Year Gryffindors had the same schedule.

"Transfiguration first," James read aloud looking at Cherish and Sirius. The three searched for nearly twenty minutes before they stumbled on the classroom by accident and took their seats.

Cherish found a chair in the front of the room, with Lily arriving not long after her and taking a seat next to her new friend.

Cherish collapsed onto the bench next to Lily and looked along the table at the lunch options.

Lily had grabbed two sandwiches and was pulling the cheese out of one of them.

"What's wrong with cheese?" Cherish asked, looking at the perfectly good slices.

"I don't like it," Lily replied putting the sandwich back together and taking a bite.

Cherish settled on stew, scooping large chunks of beef, carrots and potatoes onto her plate. She picked up her fork and began to eat rapidly.

Lily glanced at her and put her sandwich down again to take a sip of juice. "Why are you in such a hurry?" Lily glanced toward the clock, "We don't have lessons for another hour."

"I've got to go to the library," Cherish explained as she gulped down a few more mouthfuls. "And I want to meet up with James before Potions."

Lily gave her a look consisting of raised eyebrows and a skeptical eye roll, but she continued to eat her sandwich without making a comment. Cherish could already feel the silent criticism.

"I'll see you," she swallowed her last mouthful of stew, grabbed a roll and nearly sprinted toward Gryffindor tower.

She found James surrounded by Sirius and Remus. James was perched on the back of a couch, Sirius sitting on the couch cracking a joke and Remus on the other side watching the pair with amusement dancing in his eyes.

For awhile she watched them, then James took notice of her and walked over to her. "What do you need, Cher?"

"Nothing, I was just looking for you." She glanced toward his friends hesitantly. Sirius had thrown his head back laughing at something Remus had said. Remus looked toward her, smiling politely.

He had kind brown eyes, light brown hair and tended to be shy. Suddenly he jerked his head toward himself, welcoming her into the group with the simple gesture.

Sirius turned toward her, his eyes seeking out who Remus was gesturing to. His eyes landed on her and widened slightly. Remus smiled again. Encouraged, she walked over to join them.

They talked for a long time. For several minutes James looked on worriedly, his eyes darting to Cherish and then Sirius but after a brief exchange he began to relax.

"Look at the time," he glanced at the watch on Sirus's wrist. "Potions is next, we better get going."

They grabbed their books and headed down together. Cherish laughed, threw her arm over James's shoulder and leaned lightly on him. As though he could read her mind he watched her and then spoke.

"Cher, you'll be brilliant," James pulled free and stole her bag and for a spit second he stared at her and then he bolted.

"James, how dare-" Cherish had barely opened her mouth to chastise him when Sirius, and after a hesitation, Remus of all people, sprinted down the hall. She gaped for a moment.

James ran easily, slinging her bag over his shoulder and choosing one busy corridor after another to run through. He darted swiftly down several staircase, hopping over trip stairs and outrunning all three of the people chasing him.

"James!" Remus shouted as he ran up behind James, with Sirius not far behind. "Wait up!'

James reached the dungeons first, slinging her bag into a chair and plopping himself down next to it. Sirius and Remus were both breathing hard, laughing as they found their own desk to share.

Cherish appeared, her hair messy from sprinting to catch up with him, a pink flush on her cheeks. "James Potter!"

He grinned cheekily at her. She hesitated, fuming and hit him on the back of the head with her textbook.

"You're so rude," she criticized angrily. Then he flashed her his winning smile and she couldn't even pretend to be mad at her best friend anymore.

He wrote notes without much complaint, however the moment they had to work with ingredients he set up a fuss. He pulled a face.

"It's only a draught, James," Cherish studied the recipe, mentally taking note of all the ingredients as she rushed to the cabinet. .

"I don't know how to make a potion," he stared at his cauldron as though the potion would make itself. She dumped the ingredients on their table and headed back for a few vials.

"It's like cooking," Cherish explained. "Just follow what it says."

James stared at her blankly. Cherish had him gather the various ingredients in piles, and light the fire under their cauldron while she went around skinning, cutting open, slicing and then dicing up frogs and roots.

Just as she was measuring out sliced frog she heard the tinkling of glass and something freezing cold splashed onto her robes and hit her leg.

"James!" she spun around to see him staring up at her with wide guilty eyes.

"I'm sorry!" he yelped, straightening up and trying to fix the broken glass. "I didn't mean-"

"It's fine," she added the sliced frog and stirred the potion.

Professor Slughorn who was making the rounds around the room came to where James was attempting to clean up the glass and paused. "Mr. Potter," he frowned down at James, "Do try to be more careful, will you?"

James ducked his head quickly. "Yes, sir."

With a wave of his wand Professor Slughorn siphoned off the spilled liquid and fixed the broken glass.

Cherish continued the potion, trying to get it the right teal color although she doubted she would have much success.

Lily and her partner proved to be exceptionally good at Potions, getting the potion almost perfectly without much effort.

"Clear up! Read the first two chapters on basic potions and the danger of potions," Professor Slughorn instructed. The class hurriedly began to clean up their remaining ingredients.

Cherish corked two bottles for the professor to grade. James cleared their cauldron and stored it. Cherish scooped roots into their leather bindings, packing herbs into their correct jars and corked liquids.

Lily was having trouble with her own roots, trying to tie them together with string.

"I can help," Cherish offered, setting down her own bag to help.

Lily flashed her a grateful look, nodding to a handful of roots.

Cherish used twine to hold them together, flicking her wand once, and straightened up. Next to Lily, the sallow-skinned boy watched Cherish almost warily. His black eyes bored into hers and he blinked slowly.

Cherish smiled at him politely but his gaze only hardened and he narrowed his eyes slightly. He flashed a look at James and Sirius of loathing, and seemed to associate her with them.

The bell sounded and Cherish scrambled after the group of boys heading toward the door. James paused momentarily and looked back at her. "Cher, hurry up!" She put on a burst of speed and catching up to him with ease and following him out.

September passed quickly, turning into October and the leaves on the trees faded from the vibrant green into orange and dull red.

Cherish looked behind her at the four boys. Sirius was laughing at something James had said, Remus was looking somewaht shabby but a grin on his face nonetheless and Peter trotted to keep up with the fast pace set by the other boys, his eyes on James and Sirius as he followed them.

She dug her camera out and snapped a photo of them laughing, James ruffling Remus's hair in an affectionate way, Sirius with his arm thrown over James and Remus's shoulders, and then James pulling Peter into the group.

"Come on, the Halloween feast is after this class," Cherish called to them. James broke free from the group and sped up to where Cherish was.

"Herbology," he grumbled. "Why do all the plants have to have spines, spikes, thorns," he gestured to the plants that were moving. One reached out to snap at him with visibly sharp teeth, "or teeth," he added giving the plant a sharp swat with one hand.

Cherish rolled her eyes at him. "Just be patient," she suggested as they were seated.

Of all of them, Peter and Cherish seemed to have the most talent with plants. Cherish had the patience. No one knew what Peter had done, but he seemed to have a natural talent at Herbology.

Cherish grabbed her own set of cutters, gloves, then a large potted plant and began the work of snipping of nettles. Peter was slipping on a pair of gloves and was pointing out large nettle branches for Cherish to cut.

"That one looks good," he pointed to one of the green branches covered in stinging hairs.

"Ow," James hissed from behind them where he had just brushed against one of the nettle's sharp hairs. He yanked his hand back and sucked on his finger which was already bleeding.

"Don't do that," Cherish grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand from his mouth quickly. "You'll just sting your mouth," she warned and pointed toward the sink. "You have to wash it off, otherwise it'll get infected."

"What's the point of this anyhow?" Sirius grumbled as he tried to saw off one of the nettle branches.

Cherish looked up and sighed. "You can't use a sawing motion. You'll rip the branch, it's not good for the plant, you have to cut it. Use the cutters like scissors," she set down her own pair to demonstrate.

Sirius glowered at her, though she could tell he wasn't truly mad at her. "Why can you do this so easily?" he objected.

Cherish studied him for a moment to determine if he was being serious. "Patience, and I read the instructions," she replied fairly. "And I help my mother in the garden."

James had returned, but seeing that Sirius was being helped by Cherish he walked to where Peter was instead. Cherish handed Sirius a pair of cutters, "Now cut that branch," she indicated a thin branch with many nettle leaves.

Sirius cut the branch she indicated and she continued to point out good leaves to cut until they finished the plant. Then she picked out another large one, placing it in front of him and they continued to work well together. Sirius would point out branches and Cherish would cut them with a quick snip of the cutters and set them in a bin to be used in potions, nettle wine, nettle tea and the occasional soup.

"How do people eat these things?" Sirius asked after getting stung a second time.

"In potions the nettles just get crushed for their juice. I think in nettle wine and tea the nettles aren't actually eaten, they just seep in water," Cherish said as she arranged another branch in the small pile.

Sirius was relieved when the bell finally rang and he was able to get out of the stuffy greenhouse. James, Sirius and Remus all looked tired and their faces were smeared with earth. Cherish looked fairly clean, as did Peter who had managed to avoid the stinging nettles. Cherish nursed her two cuts with a dab or two of dittany that she carried in her bag.

Sirius and James used the dittany after her, then handed it off to Remus who refused. "It's only a small cut," he muttered and hurried toward the castle.

They all trooped up to their dormitories for a quick wash and then back down for the Halloween feast.

Cherish gasped as she saw the Great Hall. Hundreds of carved pumpkins floated ominously with different faces lit up by burning candles inside. The bewitched ceiling appeared almost pure black, with no sparkling stars that it usually contained. Black bats swooped around in small clouds, occasionally scaring an unsuspecting student.

Peeves cackled and was up to more mischief than usual holding a pea shooter and hitting anyone who wasn't looking. Cherish was more startled by the amount of food.

The golden plates held large amounts of sweets, swirled lollipops, large chocolates rolled in sprinkles swimming in Every Flavor Beans, large cuts of carrot cake, sweet apples which nobody touched, soft fat sugar rolled gummy candies, fake chocolate galleons and bowls of small red spicy candies.

Hardly anyone ate dinner that consisted of baked potatoes, string beans, roast beef, pork chops, Yorkshire pudding and carrots.

Cherish selected a large potato and drizzled gravy over it. James cut up a large bite of steak, while Sirius reached across him for a large chunk of roast beef. Peter had already finished two dinner rolls and was starting on his lollipop.

"Where's Remus?" she asked, looking around and realizing that the boy was missing from the table.

"He said he had a stomachache," Sirius mumbled around a mouthful of roast beef. "This is so good, he's really missing out.

"Is he up in the dorm?" Cherish asked as she dug into her potato.

"Nah, he went to Madam Pomfrey," he stabbed a potato with his fork and began to cut it open. "Said she might have a tonic for it," he was now buttering his potato.

"Well he is missing out, then," Cherish murmured as she finished her meal and began to help herself to sweets.

James looked toward the bewitched ceiling, "It's almost creepy," he said motioning to the full moon that had risen above.

A long howl, faint and off in the distance could be heard if one was quiet long enough. Cherish paused, glancing at James and Sirius. "Do you think that was a real wolf?" she asked nervously.

James laughed. "Nah, it's just an enchantment probably. It's Halloween, they just want to scare us."

When he noticed she still looked fearful, Sirius slung an arm around her and pulled on her hair. "We'll protect you, Cherish." His eyes sparkled, showing he was only joking.

"Thanks, I feel really safe," Cherish replied sarcastically, causing Sirius to laugh at her.