Disclaimer: If I were to suddenly become JK Rowling in the night, you would be the first to know. Well, actually, probably second, behind my family and such. Whatever. On to the story!
Chapter 3: Meeting the Marauders
After my sorting, I followed McGonagall up the many flights of stairs to Gryffindor Tower. She explained to me about how the Common Room was password protected, and to gain access you spoke the password to the Fat Lady in the portrait that acted as a door, then she would swing open to reveal the Common Room to you. Rather odd, that.
When I stepped into the room, the first thing I felt was... warmth. Not the fuzzy "I'm HOME!" type, but the type where you're surrounded by fire. Or many, many red and gold decorations.
All around me was a deep shade of crimson: the walls, the carpet, the leather on the plush-looking sofas. Bits of gold were hidden in there too: the lining on the windows, the fire, the large bulletin board off to one side. All right, it wasn't that bad. I could already imagine snuggling up on a couch during winter, reading a book in front of the fire with snowflakes lightly hitting the windows.
Oh wait.
I won't be here for winter. Why did I think of that?
Whatever.
"The boy's dormitories are up to the left, the girl's on the right. I trust you know which is the one you should go up, and which one you shouldn't." McGonagall fixed me with a hard stare. I stifled a laugh. Yes, yes, I know that I should always go up to the boy's bedrooms instead of the girls and sleep with them!
I shouldn't say that out loud. Might get a few confused stares, don't you think?
After she left to go back to the Welcome Feast, I went upstairs to the door marked "Seventh Years". Suddenly, I was nervous. Would this work out? How was I supposed to hide that I was a fully-blown-boobs-and-everything girl? Didn't guys have a radar for that or something?
Mustering up whatever 'Gryffindor Courage' I had, I opened the door and tentatively walked in the room. It was more or less the same decoration style as the Common Room. There were five four-poster beds with crimson curtains surrounding them spread out on the edges of the room. There was a nightstand and dresser for each bed, and two doors at the end of the room which I could only guess were a closet and the bathroom. Suddenly I was glad I was alone for the time being. I could get my bearings a bit.
All of the luggage from the train was indeed brought up, and a trunk was situated next to each bed. I checked the tag on one of the trunks, and it read: Sirius Orion Black with what looked like a muddy dog print underneath the name. What kind of name was 'Sirius'?
After finding my trunk next to the bed closest to the bathroom, I took the clothes and neatly refolded them, putting them in the drawers, and hung my robes in the closet. Everything all neat and tidy.
Might as well enjoy it while it lasts.
At that point I'd been alone for about a half hour. How long did the feast normally take? Should I go down there? How the hell was I supposed to find my way? Wouldn't McGonagall be angry, seeing me there after I made her walk me all the way up to the Common Room? HOLY GOD, DID I HEAR THE DOOR OPEN?
I did.
I was in the bathroom, refreshing the charms on my face for good measure, and the unmistakable sound of boyish laughter reached my ears through the closed door.
Breathe, Lily, breathe! In and out, in and out! THEY'RE JUST BOYS FOR MERLIN'S SAKE!
"Oi! Prongs! We have a new roommate this year!"
"What? Hogwarts never gets transfers!"
"Oh, Moony, there's a first for everything!"
"Where is he?"
"Did you see anyone new at the feast?"
"Other than the first year midgets? Nah, everyone looked familiar. But Bridget, did you see her hair? It was all shiny, and it grew over the summer..."
"James, close your mouth, you might start drooling."
"Shut up, Sirius!"
"Hey! He's already been here, look! His trunk and everything is already unpacked!"
At that moment, I stepped out of the bathroom, after triple checking that my sideburns were still there. A million things were rushing through me head. Mostly, what the hell kind of names were Prongs, Moony, and Wormtail?
When I saw the four boys, though, all those thoughts were wiped from my head, and only one occupied my brain at that moment:
They didn't make 'em like that in France!
All right, maybe I was exaggerating.
But they were fairly good looking, and I was surrounded by them... in their room. With many beds to choose from.
UGH, BAD LILY, NO THOUGHTS LIKE THAT, YOU ARE A BOY!
The first, nearest to me, wasn't as good looking as the others. He was rather short, actually, and was only maybe two inches taller than me. He had water blue eyes and brown hair, with just enough chub for it to be noticeable. He, apparently, had been the one to notice my trunk.
The second, sitting on what I assumed to be his bed, was taller, with sandy brown hair in a similar style to mine. He had a kind smile, but tired eyes, and a scar on his lower right cheek.
The third was the bloke I'd seen on the platform, with long black hair that fell elegantly into his stormy gray eyes. He had shed his cloak onto his bed and was tugging off his tie, his shirt already untucked and the first few buttons were unbuttoned.
The fourth, who looked maybe half an inch shorter than Mr. Stormy Eyes, had the same color hair, only it stuck up in odd places as though he'd accidentally stuck his hand into an electrical socket. He had light brown (possibly hazel?) eyes that were covered by his round glasses.
And I just stood there.
Staring.
At all of them.
While they gave me weird looks in return.
The electrocuted one spoke up first.
"Er... The third year dorms are down the stairs a couple of flights."
What?
"Excuse me?" I asked confusedly, remembering at the last second to deepen my voice, and stopped myself from putting one hand on my hip.
"How old are you?" Mr. Stormy Eyes asked, not unkindly, but more like a child seeing an elephant for the first time.
Not the most flattering, but I'll take it.
"I'm seventeen," I said defensively, "Isn't this the seventh year dorms?"
"Well... yes. Our apologies, we just aren't used to having another roommate," the scarred one said, standing up and putting out his hand for a shake, "I'm Remus Lupin, it's nice to meet you."
"Jake Cole,"I said, looking at his hand for a millisecond, then gripping it with my own and bringing him closer for a half hug that Lottie had showed me. Remus let out an "oof!" as though not expecting it, and stepped back a little quickly, clearing his throat. The two black-haired boys exchanged amused glances.
"Hello Jake," Remus regained composure, then pointed to each boy in turn, "That's Peter Pettigrew, Sirius Black, and James Potter."
"It's nice to meet you all," I said somewhat awkwardly. Don't guys do that hug thing? I was going to kill Lottie!
"Yeah... so, you know us, if you, you know, need help getting to your classes or something, just ask us. Or Remus. He's a prefect, he'll be more than glad to help you out!" Sirius said, sending a wicked look to Remus, who rolled his eyes.
"We'll all help you, don't worry-"
"Oi! Is that a broomstick? Cole, do you play Quidditch?" James suddenly burst out, pointing to the half-hidden broomstick sticking out from my bed.
"Er, yeah, I do. Do you guys?" I asked, suddenly relieved to be on the topic of Quidditch. I understood this! No awkward hugs in Quidditch!
Sirius scoffed. "Play? James is obsessed! He's been the captain since fifth year!" He thumped him on the back, and James caught his glasses before they slid off his face and almost landed on the floor, "Anyways, Cole, what position are you? I'm a beater!" He said proudly, thrusting his chest out.
Do not look at his slightly revealed chest, Lily!
"Chaser, what about you, James?" I asked politely.
"Same. That's cool, Caradoc graduated last year, we have an open chaser spot."
I nodded, trying not to show how excited I was. One step closer!
"Do you guys play?" I asked Remus and Peter. Peter simply shook his head and carried on unpacking his stuff.
"No, I'm the announcer," Remus said.
"Yeah, for all the games except ours!" James complained, taking off his robes and throwing them on his bed.
"Why?" I asked curiously.
Remus smiled modestly, "I may have made a few.. ah... biased comments during the Beauxbatons game in fourth year."
For some reason Sirius and James burst out laughing. After a solid minute, Sirius choked out, "'COME ON CONNORS, KICK THE FRENCH WANKER'S ASS, YOU'VE ALMOST GOTTEN THE SNITCH! YES! HOGWARTS WINS! JOHN CONNORS CATCHES THE SNITCH! SUCK ON THAT, BEAUXBATONS!"
This time, Peter and Remus also joined in on the laughter. I, however, stayed where I was, more confused.
"I thought the Beauxbaton's game was a friendly match?"
That got me a couple of strange stares.
"Well - I mean -" I stuttered, "I used to go there! And we never made a big deal about it."
More confused stares.
"Are you blind? In fourth year we traveled to France for the game, and there was a considerable amount of... school spirit shall we say from the blokes. The girls didn't make a big deal out of it," Sirius said, giving me a weird look.
I blanched. Of course. Since Hogwarts didn't have a girl's team, we never played against them, so the girl's never made a big deal out of the games, mostly out of the unfairness that Hogwart's didn't have a girl's team.
"Oh, yeah, I was just thinking of my friend... she never got excited, I guess it just rubbed off on me!" I said, giving an awkward laugh.
"Wait, so did you play against us then?" James asked.
"Uh... no. I wasn't on the team until fifth year," I lied quickly, "The week of tryouts I ate some bad fish for a dare, I was in the infirmary, so I missed it that year."
The boys, thankfully nodded in understanding.
"Are you trying out for the Hogwarts team?" Peter piped up.
"Definitely. I want to beat Beauxbatons," More confused stares. Dammit, Lily, stop contradicting yourself! "I mean, cause, the team's a bunch of tools!" I amended quickly. They seemed to like the insult, so I went on, "Like.. my neighbor, she used to date that jerk Austen Maynard." I gave a roll of my eyes too. For some reason, James immediately laughed.
"I know him! I made him cry last time!" He and Sirius high fived.
I paled. "That was you?" Me and Austen hadn't been dating yet, but I stayed up on the Quidditch Pitch with him while he venomously cursed Hogwarts and all who went there since one of the Chaser's had broken his nose. Then I thought it was all romantic, he being all sensitive to losing. Now I thought it was pathetic.
"Absolutely! That guy's is such an asshole. I can't believe he actually got a girlfriend!" James scoffed.
I laughed nervously. "Yeah."
"So, is your neighbor hot?" Sirius asked casually, tugging off his shirt.
I stuttered for a second, until he pulled on a plain with t-shirt. "Uh- um, well, I don't know, we're pretty close." I managed to choke out.
Sirius sent me a weird look and retreated to behind his bed before changing out of the school trousers and a pair of pajama pants.
I looked around the room desperately for something else to talk about, but Remus was reading, and Peter was flipping through a comic book. James was fidgeting with an old-looking snitch, rubbing the ridges near the wings, staring off into space with a thoughtful expression on his face.
I rummaged through my clothes for a minute before taking out sleeping clothes, and going into the bathroom to change into them.
"So, uh, when are try-outs?" I asked James when I came back out.
"Tomorrow morning, bright and early, right after breakfast!" He said mock-cheerfully.
"Mate, why?" Sirius complained.
"We won the Quidditch Cup last year, that means we represent Hogwarts against Beauxbatons. I'll be damned if we lose in our last year, especially if I'm captain. So we're preparing early." James said determinedly.
"Whatever you say. Hey, Cole, can I see what type of broom you have?" Sirius asked me casually.
Gladly (for I was rather proud of my broom - a Comet 240, the latest model), I pulled it out from underneath my bed, but to my mortification, the box of tampons I had stashed under there as well came sliding out too.
"Woah, why is there a box of - of tampons under your bed?" James asked.
"Uhh..." Think, Lily, dammit, think! "I uh... get really bad nosebleeds?" It came out like a question.
"So you stick them up your nose?" Sirius asked appallingly, crinkling his own nose, and attracting the attention of Remus and Peter as well. They were watching me with confusion.
I scoffed, "uh, yeah! Ludo Bagman does it all the time. Look, you just-" I tore open the box and took one out, ripping the wrapper off of it and tossing it casually into the air (James jerked a little when it came close to him - immature prat). "You just, take off all of this... stuff, and you know - stick it right in." Demonstrating, I gingerly slid it up my left nostril. "Absorbs all the blood right up!"
The four boys started laughing hysterically.
"You look so stupid!" Sirius gasped through his laughter.
"Merlin, take that out, it's disgusting," James added.
"That's - uh - a very interesting remedy, Jake," Remus said, hiding a smile.
"Let's get to bed guys, come on. Sirius, if you fall asleep during try-outs tomorrow I'm kicking you off, I mean it."
Remus flicked his wand and the lights went out, and there was much shuffling around as each of us got into bed.
I stared at the ceiling for an hour, blocking out four sets of snores, thinking of how tomorrow would go, my face still a little red from the slip up.
Was I really cut out for this?
A/N: Sorry about the wait, guys! Time got away from me, I was travelling quite a lot.
But what'd you think? Do you like the Marauders? Any predictions on what's coming next? Suggestions? Leave a review! I so love reviews. :D They are what motivate me, so the more, the faster the next chapter!
Next time: Tryouts! DUM DUM DUUMMM! And Lily finds it hard to fit in at Hogwarts, until Lottie and Claire decide to help out during their first Hogsmeade trip. Stay tuned ^_^
