Author's Note: So yeah, let me know what you think :] I'm doing my best not to make Claire or Naida seem Mary-Sue at all. In reality, I'm a lot alike to Naida anyway ;P

Onwards!

Warning: Occasional OOC, some AU and mild language.

Chapter Two

Naida and Claire took the same carriage to Hogwarts upon entering Hogsmeade station, much to the displeasure of their respective friends. It was only at the feast that they finally separated from one another to go to their house tables with a promise to meet up later again.

"See, I don't have a problem with other friends," James started as he sat down next to Naida at the Gryffindor table, "I just have a problem with Slytherin friends."

The girl rolled her eyes and pushed him with her shoulder gently. "Like I said, my friends are my business. Besides, you four never paid me any mind until Remus started tutoring me in potions. Then it was only because you wanted to know who was taking up his time." Naida laughed at Sirius and James' wounded looks, the former sitting on the other side of the latter. "Why can't you go pester Lily or something?"

Remus sat on the other side of their female friend, whereas the last member of the Marauders took his seat on the other side of Remus. "She shot him down again." He stated as he took Naida's attention away from James' complaining.

"Ahh. That makes sense. Please, pray tell, why is my friendship-life thingy any business of the Marauders?" Naida ignored the two on her right side that were trying, and failing, to get her attention.

A shrug was her response from Remus. He just went with whatever James and Sirius were planning. "They have grudges against Slytherin. Not that I don't either or anything, but it's just difficult for them to see why you want to be friends with one."

Naida was cut off, as it seemed to be happening a lot, by two other Gryffindor girls sitting opposite of her. "Hullo, Kara. Hullo, Alyx." She chirped brightly to the two close friends. They both raised one hand in greeting with smiles on their faces.

"How was your summer?" Kara questioned brightly, her elbows resting on the top of the long table that belonged to the Gryffindors with her chin within her hands.

"Mum and dad took me to Romania to the dragon preserve that is starting up." Naida replied as she ignored the incessant poking being done to her side by the leader of the Marauders. She swatted the hand that reached up to tug on one of her neon streaks, then turned to pout at James when he managed to grab one and pull. "What?"

"You're ignoring me."

"Well, you and Sirius can go off and have your passionate love together. Leave me alone." Naida wrinkled her nose at the boy sitting on her right before sliding over top of Remus to sit between him and Peter, sticking her tongue out again at the two boys on the other side of Remus.

Alyx laughed at the girl on the opposite side of the table, "I want to feel bad for you, Naida, really I do. But you know my opinion." She laughed again upon seeing Naida's pout deepen.

Naida could feel Peter quivering at the fact a girl was sitting next to him, his face a reddish hue due to his embarrassment. The sudden stop in the feeling meant that he had suddenly shifted away from her completely. She turned her head to find the reason why, only to push back into Remus again.

"Gah! Sirius, quit doing that." Her hands flew up to protect her face as said boy had moved from sitting by James to being between her and Peter. "What, are we playing musical seats?"

"What's a musical seat?" Remus questioned as James opened his mouth to ask the same thing. Kara turned from her conversation with Alyx to respond with a grin on her face.

"It's a Muggle game, you play music and then walk around a bunch of chairs. It gets harder to find a chair because you take one out each turn." She laughed at the looks on the boys' faces at her response. Just as James was about to answer, the headmaster began his speech.

Once he had finished, the feast had begun and the boys were too busy stuffing their faces to bother Naida or the other two girls across from her anymore. As usual, Naida managed to eat almost as much as the growing males on either side of her. She finished quicker than they did and danced away from the table with a flutter of her fingers towards the Marauders.

To her delight, Claire was waiting for her just outside the Great Hall with a bright smile on her face. The Slytherin girl was absent of any followers, as she had managed to snip orders out to them to leave her alone. "Hey there."

"Hiya, Claire~!" Naida chirped as she jump-hugged her new friend. Having begun to get used to the Gryffindor girl's strangeness, Claire half-hugged her back with a laugh. "How was your supper?"

"It was good, yours?" Claire began to walk towards the common grounds so that the two girls could sit together in relative peace, even though it was nearly time to head back up to their separate common rooms.

"Alright, beyond our four pests bugging me more than I could bug anyone in an hour." Naida said as she plopped her butt down onto one of the stone benches, pulling Claire down with her. "I bet you 5 Sickles that they find us."

The other girl laughed slightly, only to let out another bout of laughter as her gaze noted four figures heading their way. "Don't look now, but you've won your own bet." She motioned towards the advancing teens and Naida covered her face to let out her own laughter.

"They are such stalkers!" The red-and-gold crested girl threw her hands up in exasperation before giving up to wave towards them. "Remus I don't mind, he's a sweetheart. James and Sirius are the troublemakers. Peter is just creepy sometimes, but otherwise just follows the two leaders." Naida murmured to Claire who nodded along to the information.

"Waiting around for me, love?" Sirius asked with a charming smile on his face as he stopped in front of the more eccentric girl. She scrunched up her face at his words before kicking him in the shin lightly from where she was sitting.

"Don't call me 'love'. And hardly, Claire and I were having a civilized conversation before you lot showed up."

What suspiciously sounded like a snort came from James, and Naida frowned at him. He smiled innocently as he answered her questioning look. "I didn't know you knew such long words."

"You're cruel. Besides, you don't even know what it means." Naida retorted, turning her gaze from James Potter to her redheaded friend next to her who was barely containing her laughter. "Not you too," she whined as she tugged on Claire's wrist lightly, "you're supposed to be on my side."

Claire flashed a grin at the pouting girl, "I am on your side, for the most part anyway." She flipped her red hair back over one shoulder as she looked up at the boys. "I thought you four were going to be pigheaded that I'm in Slytherin."

"We've changed our minds." James stated as his hands folded across his chest while he looked down at the two females.

Naida made a questioning noise in the back of her throat as she looked at Remus for confirmation of their agreement. Said boy was doing his best to control his grin at how serious James was looking. Suddenly, the girl couldn't hold in her comments any longer.

"James, you look like you have something painful shoved up your butt when you try to look serious." Naida stated her opinion very solemnly before the group registered what she had said, and they all burst out into laughter.

The mentioned boy mock scowled at her, to which she gave a pretty smile in return. "I was trying to be nice." He sulked slightly, until Naida kicked him in the shin too. "Ouch!"

"Sirius doesn't complain when I kick him, so hush." She nudged James again with her foot before clinging to the girl next to her. "Let's blow this popsicle stand." Naida nudged Claire to stand up for the two of them to 'tactfully retreat', otherwise known as flee from the stalkers.

"I don't wanna go yet." Claire pouted as the Gryffindor girl tugged her away from the Marauders. "I was enjoying the eyecandy!"

"Enjoy it at breakfast." Naida huffed as she twirled around to jump onto Claire's back, "Onwards!" She pointed towards the halls of the school and the girl beneath her rolled her eyes before refusing to move.

"I'm not your bloody horse." Claire pinched one of Naida's legs, causing her to squeak and slide off with a renewed pout.

"Deny me fun!"

"Suck it up. It's curfew anyway." The redhead laughed as they walked towards the stairs. Naida clung to Claire in a tight hug before taking one of the staircases upwards to the tower in which she slept.

"See you tomorrow~!" Naida called down, while walking backwards to the Gryffindor Tower. Claire waved bye as she headed downstairs to the Slytherin Dungeon.

Upon reaching the Tower, Naida chirped the password to the Fat Lady after getting into a discussion with the woman about the effects of using too much of different compounds on a portrait. The portrait swung open for the girl, in a much better mood then she had been before due to a group of First-Years forgetting the password and having to guess.

Thinking that she was in the clear to go up to her room without any pestering, Naida found she was very wrong. The four who had just been down in the courtyard, were now sitting on the various couches in front of the fireplace. She shrugged off her amazement to plop down on Remus' knees as he was sitting on a recliner chair and not one of the sofas.

"Wow Naida, this is the first time you sat with us without being asked." James lifted an eyebrow and she stuck out her tongue at him.

"I'm tired, I want sleep. You four are keeping me from it, but it would've been worse if I had tried to get away." Naida explained as she pushed the lanky Remus into the corner of the recliner for her to squish next to him in.

Sirius smirked at her words and nudged James with his shoulder. "I think she remembers last year when she tried to run away." As he recalled the event, James' face lit up slightly.

"Ah, I remember. It was that rope-spell we learned." He gave a wicked smile towards the curled up girl and she yawned in response.

"I'm not running. Remus promised me a good night's sleep. As much as I love pranks, I really do need to sleep." Naida uncurled herself from the squished up Remus and the recliner to stand up. She scowled at Sirius as opened his mouth; "You try living with two parents who are no better than children."

With that said, she climbed the stairs to the girl's dormitory where she could crash on her bed for a much needed rest. Sirius made a face at her retreating back before looking back to the other three boys. "She should try living with my family." He rolled his eyes and James bumped his shoulder lightly to perk him back up.

The Marauders had begun their planning of the school year.