Chapter Two: Hogwarts
(James' P.O.V.)
I felt Thea's breathing deepen as she fell asleep. I sighed. She had just gotten better. The others walked in. "She's asleep." I said softly so as not to wake her.
"We figured she would be. Can we sleep in here? We want to be there for her tonight and in the morning." Sirius asked.
"Of course. There should be plenty of blankets and pillows for pallets." I responded. Thea whimpered in her sleep and I pulled her closer to me. That seemed to calm her down. The guys made their pallets quietly and we all fell asleep. The next morning, I woke up to Thea shaking me. I looked at her and gave her an encouraging smile. She just gave a weak sad smile back. I hugged her before letting her go. After she left the room I woke up the other guys. They went to their rooms to get ready. We were supposed to be leaving for Hogwarts soon. I looked around my room after getting ready and quickly packed my trunk. I barely closed it before lugging it downstairs. Thea, Remus, Peter, and mum were eating already. Thea wasn't actually eating. She was playing with her food. I made me a plate before joining them and sitting down beside mum, since I knew Sirius would want to sit next to Thea. Sirius walked in made his plate and sat beside Thea. I could see him whisper to her to eat. I smiled at him in appreciation. After taking a few bites of my food I turned to face mum. "Where's dad this morning?" I asked.
"He had to go into work early this morning. He sends you all on your best though." Mum explained. I just nodded and kept eating. Once everyone finished eating we made our way out to the Ministry provided car. The Auror drove us to King's Cross Station. While everyone else talked and tried lighten the mood Thea stayed quiet and in her own little world. Sirius stayed by her side holding her, but I don't think she actually noticed. It was going to take a lot to help her recover from her family's death. We rush to Platform 9 3/4. Thea wasn't paying attention to where she was going, so Sirius grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. I sadly watched her. I don't know what to do to help her. We finally made it on to the platform. Mum hugged everyone tearing up a little. We quickly made our way on to the train and in to a compartment. Sirius pulled Thea in to his lap and held her. She just stared out the window as Sirius whispered to her. I watched them silently for a few minutes before turning to Remus.
"You want to play a game of Wizard's Chess?" I asked.
"Yeah. Sounds good." Remus said. He glanced over at Sirius and Thea. Usually, Thea jumped in and demanded to have the first game or to play the winner, but she just kept staring out the window not even acknowledging us. Half way through the ride Remus and I got up to go to the Prefects meeting. When we get in there the first thing I notice is Lily standing in the middle of the compartment. I lightened up a little at seeing her. I ran my fingers through my hair before walking over to her.
"Hey there Evans!" I exclaim. She rolls her eyes at me and ignores me. I sigh.
(Sirius's P.O.V.)
I watch Thea as she watches out the window. I quietly sing her favorite song to her to help calm her down. I hug her closer to me. I was really worried about her. I have never seen her this quiet before. Peter shifted uncomfortably. James and Remus come back after a few minutes and they start playing Exploding Snap. When the game ends Thea jumps and stares at the cards for a second. We all watch her worried she might break down again. She looks up at the guys and then laughs at the fact that the cards exploded in Peter's face. We all tensed for a minute before joining in her laughter. We all relaxed after that. Thea was finally out of her trance. She was still upset and quieter than usual but she was at the very least talking. "I'm going to find Lily. I haven't seen her all summer." Thea said before getting up and walked out of the compartment. We all nodded. After she left we all looked around at each other before shrugging and going back to playing games.
(Thea's P.O.V.)
I make my way down the train towards the compartment I know Lily and the girls are in. Once I'm standing outside the door I take a deep breath before walking in. The girls squealed at seeing me and hugged me. They pull me down and immediately start telling me about their summers. I smile at them and nod along. They soon stopped looking immediately guilty and asking how I am. I sighed. "I'm getting there. I honestly don't know how I'm going to make it, but I'm trying." I said. They all nodded.
"We are here for you, Thea. If you need anything at all, we are here." Lily said.
"Thank you. I will definitely need you guys. Now, I know you have some Firewhiskey in here. How about a drink to our final year at Hogwarts?" I asked. I noticed Lily's worried glance before she turned to Marlene.
"Why are you looking at me?" Marlene asked innocently.
"Please we all know you have it." Alice said.
"You're right. Here we go!" Marlene exclaimed. Dorcas conjured some glasses for us all. Marlene poured all of us a glass.
"To Seventh Year!" Dorcas toasted.
"To Seventh Year!" we all toasted. We clinked glasses before drinking our glasses. I smiled as we drank more and more. The only one holding back is Lily, who is watching me in concern. I ignore her stare and keep drinking. Soon Lily tells us we have to get changed in to our robes. I stood up and remembered that my trunk is in the boys' compartment. "I'll be back. My trunk is in the boys' compartment." I got up and staggered out of the compartment and to the boys' compartment. When I got there I walked in and tried to get my trunk down. The boys watched me in amusement. "Don't just sit there. Help me." I slurred.
"Thea, are you drunk?" James asked with amusement and concern laced in his voice.
"So?" I asked back sassily. I heard the guys chuckle. "Help me!" Finally, one of them helped get my trunk down. I opened it and grabbed my robes. I left my trunk open and on the seat as I left to go back to the girls' compartment to get changed. When I made it back to the compartment I quickly got changed. Lily had confiscated the Firewhiskey from us right before we stopped at Hogsmeade Station. We all staggered towards the Thestral drawn carriages. I glanced at the creature before climbing into the carriage. Lily was lecturing us about at least pretending we are sober when we make it to the castle, but none of us were listening. Once we made it to the castle we all looked up at it in awe as if it was the first time we had seen it. "I can't believe that we get to live in a castle." I whispered conspiratorially. The other girls nodded at me in agreement except for Lily who shook her head in amusement.
"Come on you drunken idiots. McGonagall will kill us if we are late." Lily said. We followed behind her. We giggled as we walked past Professor McGonagall, who looked at us suspiciously. We took our seats and burst out laughing. Lily even joined in. Soon everyone was in their seats waiting for the First Years to arrive.
"I am starving! When are the little ones going to get here?" I complained.
"Not soon enough!" Marlene complained next to me.
"You two shouldn't have drank as much as you did." Lily lectured.
"How much did she have to drink?" Sirius asked from across from me.
"I think she had the most. I'm pretty sure she had six glasses of Firewhiskey before I took it away." Lily said.
"Why did you let her drink that much?" James asked.
"Like I can stop her once she starts drinking. I have never been able to stop her." Lily said.
"Hey look the pipsqueaks are here!" Dorcas exclaimed happily. We cheered as they walked up to the front of the Great Hall. Some of them looked at us nervously.
After the sorting we all dove in to the food and ate whatever we could get our hands on. Some of the older kids watched us in amusement while the First Years and Second Years watched us in terror. After finishing our dinner, we sat there and waited for Dumbledore to make his speech. Soon he stood up and clapped his hands together. "To the old welcome back, and to the new welcome. Now that we have all filled ourselves with a delicious dinner, I would like to go over a couple of rules. I want everyone to remember that the Forbidden Forest is just that, forbidden. Mr. Filch has posted new banned items to his door. There are new rules concerning those allowed into Hogsmeade on the weekends. We will be initiating a partner rule. In other words, you must not go anywhere alone when off of school grounds. We only ask this because of the ongoing war, which I'm sure you are all well aware of. Please use caution when you are in Hogsmeade. Now, let's all go get some much needed sleep." Dumbledore announced. Everyone got up and headed to their common rooms and dorms.
"Will you guys be ok? I have to help show the First Years to the common room." Lily asked.
"We'll be fine, Lils. What's the password?" I assured her drunkenly.
"I'm probably going to regret this later, but the password is Hippogriff." Lily said. I just nodded at her. We all staggered up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower. I felt two strong arms pick me up when I almost tripped going up the stairs. I looked up and saw Remus holding me.
"Thanks Remy!" I exclaimed. He just smiled at me and continued to carry me up to the tower. Once there Sirius gave the password before leading the way inside. Remus put me down once we were inside. I smiled at him and then hugged him. I in turn hugged Peter and then Sirius before slowly making my way up to my dorm with a little help from Marlene and Dorcas. We all passed out once we fell into our beds.
A/N: I hope you guys liked it! I just want to let you guys know that the chapters will not always come out this quickly or be this long. Please review so I know if I need to fix anything or so I know that you guys like it!