I tried to make this chapter reasonably longer. Please R&R! kthnx :

Wait and See

Ashley had a bittersweet feeling today. Sure, she was glad that she was going back to Hogwarts. She had missed it terribly over the summer, and she missed all of her friends. But this was going to be her last year at Hogwarts. It was two days before she had to go back to Hogwarts, and Ashley was meeting her friends at Nicole's. Nicole was the only pureblood out of their group, and they always enjoyed going to her house.

That and the fact that she had the second smallest family, next to Lori, who was an only child. All she had was a brother, who was three years older. David, who had left Hogwarts two years ago, and he had moved out last year, so there was plenty of space at the Corry's Manor.

Ashley finished packing her trunk, and ran downstairs into the kitchen. She said her good-byes to her parents, who were glad that there was only one more year before she would be home 24/7. Ashley hadn't had the heart to tell them that she was planning on pooling money with her friends to buy a house.

Now that Ashley was officially seventeen, and had a licene to apparate, she was glad that she would finally be able to apparate somewhere. She gladly focused on the front stoop of Nicole's house, and with a loud crack she was at the front door.

Lily had actually enjoyed her summer, seeing as on July 2, Petunia got married, had a two-week honeymoon, and then moved out for good. Lily got to spend a lot of alone time with her parents, and the muggle friends she had left behind. Of course, they just thought she went to a boarding school during the school year. She trusted them, just not enough to tell them all that she was a witch.

Lily quickly washed her face, combed her hair, got dressed, made sure her trunk was packed, and headed downstairs. As usual, her mother cried because she was leaving, and her father wrapped her in the never-ending hug. Lily didn't mind it too much, because she knew that that was how parents were supposed to be, and she was glad that she had parents who cared about her so much.

After saying her good-byes, Lily, who had passed her apparating test with flying colors, apparated over to Nicole's.

Dawn was so happy to be seeing her friends again. She really didn't like her house. Dawn was, like Lily, a muggle-born, but her parents drove her crazy. Her mum just loved to yell, and her dad liked to drink. Nice combination, eh? Dawn happily thanked Hogwarts for accepting her every day of her life, because it gave her an excuse to get rid of these people.

Dawn, unlike Ashley and Lily, did not have to worry about tear-filled good-byes, because at 1:00 in the afternoon, her parents were both snoozing on the couch. Dawn rolled her eyes and left her parents a note saying she had left. Dawn was the baby of the family, her siblings all being much older than her. Closest to her in age, was her 27-year-old sister, Keri. Then, she had two older brothers, Nathan, who was 29, and Dylan, who was 31. They were all already married with kids, except for Nathan, who didn't even have a girlfriend.

Unfortunately, Dawn didn't turn 17 until August 20th, so she didn't get to take the Apparation test during the school year. It looked like she'd have to floo to Nicole's.

Lori awoke later than she had plan, and didn't get a lot of time to do things. As fast as possible, she got ready and packed. She tried to make the good-byes with her family extremely short. Her mum worried about her a lot, and her dad was rarely home. He hadn't even come home to say good-bye to her. Lori knew that he loved her, but he had a funny way of showing it.

Lori's mum reminded her to write, and all of that. Lori's mum was a muggle, but she had gotten used to everything about magic. At first, she refused to let Lori go to Hogwarts, but her father talked her mother into it. That was one of the few great things her father had ever done for her. Mr. Harrow was only home for about two weeks each month. Lori had gotten used to it, but she often wondered what it would be like to have a regular father.

She sighed, and flooed to Nicole's.

"Alrighty, Nicorry. You first," Lori called. Nicole smiled and ran onto the platform.

"Me next," Dawn said with a smile, and she ran in after Nicole.

"Lily," Lori said, gesturing for her to go onto the platform. Lily nodded, took a deep breath, and ran. Lori went in directly after her, and then Ashley.

The five girls got onto the train, and sat in the first empty compartment that they saw. Ashley put all of her things down, and said, "I'm gonna go check in with the guys."

The girls nodded, and Ashley left the compartment, looking for her good friends. After five minutes of searching, she found them settling into the compartment. "Ashley!" James and Remus shouted, each of them hugging her.

"Hey guys! How was your summer?" Ashley questioned, sitting in between them. She grabbed a Chocolate Frog from Sirius and unwrapped it.

"Hi to you too, Ash," Sirius mumbled.

"My summer," James said, ignoring Sirius, "was brilliant. I think this is the year."

"You say that every year, Prongs," Remus reminded him.

"Yeah, but this is our last year, so it's got to be the year...Right?" James said hopefully, looking at Ashley.

"Uh-Yeah! Of course it is," Ashley said, trying to help James.

"My summer was pretty good. I always hate full moons in the summer most of all because you guys aren't there with me," Remus said solemnly.

"Sorry, Moony," they chorused.

"Well my sum-,"

"Nobody asked you, Sirius," Ashley said, giving him a dirty look.

"Oh, well..." Don't argue, Don't argue, Don't argue, Sirius told himself. "Okay then." Ashley furrowed her brows at him in confusion, but merely shrugged off the fact that he had held back from arguing with her.

"How was your summer, Ashley?" James asked, trying to save them from this awkward moment.

"It was as good as it could possibly get with six sisters roaming around," Ashley shrugged.

Just then, there was a knock at the door. Ashley spun around and opened it. "Oh, Hey Nicole."

"Er-Hi, Ashley. James, Sirius...Can I talk to you for a moment?" Nicole questioned, turning a bit red. The boys nodded and followed her out into the corridor.

"What was that about?" Ashley asked Remus as she finished off her Chocolate Frog.

"Haven't the foggiest."

"So, Sirius. How have you been with Ashley?" Nicole questioned, leading them into an empty compartment.

"Good. I bit my tounge when she said something nasty to me," Sirius replied proudly.

"Great job. James, you have to go talk to Lily. Go ahead," Nicole said, nodding her head to the right. James grinned, thanked her, and headed for the compartment that Lily was in.

"I dunno if I can do this, Nicole," Sirius confessed.

"Of course you, can Sirius. Are you truly in love with her?" Nicole questioned him earnestly.

"Well...yeah, at least I think I am. I mean, I have no experience when it comes to actual love, but this is the ost I've ever felt for a girl. When she walks into a room, I can't explain it, it's like my heart is...I dunno...Lifting? And her smile...That's worth more to me than all the girls I've snogged in a lifetime. When she's around, I feel so happy, but self-consious at the same time, which is really weird for me, because I've never felt concious around anyone before, so I dunno...that scares me a little. I feel like I want to spend the rest of my life with her," Sirius concluded with a large grin.

"Aww, Sirius! It's true, you are in love! I'm so happy for you!" Nicole said happily, giving Sirius a big hug. And then, mid-hug, Nicole and Sirius heard a yell of "Oh my god!"

They broke apart quickly, and spun around to face whoever was there. "Oh. Hello, Serena. Hey, Daphne," Nicole whispered quietly. Serena Strickland was one of the school's gossipy air-heads. She was in their year in Ravenclaw. Daphne Gammond was her best friend, who was also a good friend of Ashley, Lily, Lori, Dawn, and Nicole.

"Hi, Nicole," Daphne said quietly.

"Well, what do we have here? Sirius Black with his latest victim! Oh, this is too good!" Serena cried.

"Wait, It's not what-," but Serena had already run out of the compartment with a very sad looking Daphne at her heels. "Just great," Nicole mumbled.

"Perfect. Now, Ashley's going to think I'm seeing you!" Sirius said angrily, hitting himself in the head.

"Let's just try to get to her before Serena does," Nicole said, dragging Sirius out of the compartment. He followed her, and they scurried down the hallway, going back to the Marauder's compartment.

"Shit! She's not here!" Sirius cried, running his hands through his hair.

"We'll find her, don't worry," Nicole said soothingly. On the inside, she wasn't so calm. Ashley's gonna kill me.

"C'mon, Moony. Let's go see if James is having any luck with Lily," Ashley said, leading Remus toward the door.

"Oh, okay," Remus said, setting aside his book, and following Ashley down the corridor. They were just otuside the compartment door, when a giggly girl and a worn-out looking one came up to them. "Hey, Daphne! How was your summer? Oh, hi Serena," Ashley said. She didn't paticularly like Serena much. She never cared for the incredibly gossipy girls who always seemed to be in everybody's business, and know every single thing about every single person.

"My summer was great, thanks. I just haven't really been able to get to sleep lately," Daphne said with a yawn.

"Have you guys heard about Sirius Black and Nicole Corry?" Serena blurted out, ignoring the two friends conversation.

"What?" Remus and Ashley said in unison. They exchanged a look, and then glared back at Serena.

"Yup. Daphne and I caught them in some compartment together!" Serena said proudly, like she was an auror who just caught a dark wizard or something.

"Really..." Ashley said, pretending to lose interest.

"Yup! They had their hands all over each other!" Serena said with a laugh. Then, she grabbed Daphne, and pulled her away like a dog on a leash. She gave Daphne a sympathetic look, and turned around to talk to Remus.

"I'm going to find out about this. You go see what Lily and James are up to. Make sure she's not being tormented or anything. Okay?" Ashley asked distractedly. Remus nodded, and slid open the compartment door as Ashley headed in the other derection, checking each compartment for Sirius and Nicole. Finally, after what seemed like hours of searching, she found them walking down a corridor.

Sirius and Nicole were making their way to find Ashley. "Where could she be?" Sirius asked, throwing his hands up in the air.

"I dunno, Sirius. Don't worry, we'll find her before Serena does," Nicole said positively as she scanned each compartment for her best friend.

"What if she already got to her?" Sirius asked miserably.

"She didn't, okay?" Nicole said, starting to feel a bit annoyed with his negativitey.

"Yeah, whatever," Sirius mumbled.

"Look, there she is!" Nicole said happily. The two of them ran up to her, but she looked pissed.

This girl is supposed to be my best friend, and what does she do? She starts sleeping with the enemy! Ugh, I can't believe she would do this! I mean, there are plenty of guys at Hogwarts. Why did she have to go and pick Sirius of all people to snog? It was gross! Not to mention a huge betrayl. Ashley was positively steamed by the time Nicole and Sirius had run up to her.

"So how's the happy couple?" Ashley asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Ashley, listen for a sec-," Nicole said breathlessly.

"Save it, Nicole. We're done here," Ashley said angrily, and she turned on her heel, and walked down the hallway, leaving Sirius and Nicole to exchange glances of pure misery.

Remus entered the compartment that Lily, James, Lori, and Dawn were currently in. Lori and Dawn were playing a game of Exploding Snap, Lily had a look of confusion on her face, and James was talking about something to do with being Head Boy.

"Please, Remus. Tell me he isn't serious," Lily said helplessly.

"I'm not serious, Lily," James told her, which made Lily look happy for a split-second, "I'm James."

"Oh, very funny!" Lily said, rolling her eyes. "That joke got old the second week of first term!"

"Hey, Lily. It won't be so bad, I promise," James said earnestly.

"What reason do I have to trust you?" Lily asked skeptically.

"Well, you have no reason to trust me, but you also have to reason to not trust me. I've never lied or betrayed you, have I?" James said hopefully.

"How am I supposed to know?" Lily countered stubbornly.

James shrugged. "I guess you don't. You'll just have to wait and see."

So, what did you guys think of Chapter 3? Reviews please :