The next morning began much like the one before it with Raelynn yelling and clothes flying.
"Whadafuxgoinon?" Lily spluttered as yawned and wiped sleep from her eyes.
"Classes, Lily, I have to look perfect for my first day of classes!"
"We have uniforms Rae, chill out." Lily said teetering where she stood. They hadn't got much sleep and Lily had no idea how Raelynn had enough energy to rant like she was.
The other girls of the dorm were getting ready, anxious to get out of the seventh year dorm room and away from Raelynn, who was behaving crazily.
"I can't find my effing tie, Lily!"
Lily looked over at a lamp across the room where a red and gold tie hung haphazardly. She yawned once again and pointed at the tie and set out to dressing herself.
Raelynn left her perfect blond hair down in messy waves as she usually did. She wore no make up, and situated her uniform to fit her curves perfectly. Lily did the same, but with her dark auburn hair up in a messy bun.
"Are you ready now drama queen?" Raelynn asked her.
Lily looked at her indecorously. "Are you serious?" she asked as they came down into the common room. Raelynn merely laughed and marched out of the portrait hole and down to the Great Hall.
As they sat down at their table Emily ran up and hugged them.
"I hate you both." She said looking at her best friends. "But I love you both too."
"Oh yeah, hey about that," Raelynn began. "the story's that we talked back to McGonagall and that's why we have two weeks of detention."
Emily looked confused. "What? Why?"
"We don't want to effect Mr. Adams' reputation." Lily explained, and Emily nodded. Just then McGonagall came by passing out their schedules.
"Oh yeah!" Emily said, pulling out hers.
The girls intently read their schedules.
"God damnit!" Raelynn burst. "Double freakin' potions first thing." She looked desperately at her friends. "Please tell me at least one of you has to suffer with me."
Grimly her friends shook their heads. "Sorry, Rae-Rae." Emily said sadly. "Lil and I have charms first."
"It's okay though!" Lily started before Raelynn could have another outburst. "I have free period with you after Charms and Ancient Runes."
"And I do too! Just after Divination." Em supplied happily.
"That's all very well, but I have to endure Slughorn alone! For two periods!" She cried desperately.
A smooth voice came from behind her. "You've got double potions as well, eh?"
The girls turned to face Sirius Black from the train the day before.
"Uh… Yeah, I do." Raelynn said, gazing up at the boy. She wondered why she hadn't realized he was attractive on the train the day before. 'Must've been the exhaustion' she thought to herself.
"Well, that's a relief." he let out a bark of a laugh. "None of my friends are stuck in it today either. Care to walk together?"
Rae's friends nudged her as she stared dumbfounded at the fearless boy. Raelynn wasn't nervous around boys, normal boys that is. She didn't know how to deal with a boy she had never heard of until the day before, who had just as much confidence as any popular boy did that she knew. Boys didn't talk to Raelynn often; she blamed it on intimidation. The Minister of Magic's daughter is not exactly the least nerve-wracking girl to talk to for some reason. After all of these thoughts she smiled and nodded. He took her hand and helped her up from her spot at the table.
Lily and Emily shared a knowing smile and turned back to their schedules to continue comparing.
"So, Raelynn Adams," Sirius smiled at the pretty girl by his side. "what are you truly like? Underneath the appearance of being perfect I mean." She hit him playfully and laughed.
"Hmm, that's a hard one, to be honest." She smiled at him. "I don't really know what you don't know."
"I don't know that much about you." He laughed. "I've only been stalking you for five years."
"Creeper!" She laughed as they walked down into the dungeons.
"Sorry! It's hard not to stalk a girl of your social standing. Everyone stalks you." He laughed. Raelynn looked around feigning fright.
"I'm so comfortable now." She joked as they reached their classroom.
They sat together in the back, continuing their conversation, not paying attention to the begin of term speech.
"I really don't know what to tell you about myself." Raelynn whispered. "Just ask me questions, that'll be easier." Sirius nodded and thought seriously for a moment, stroking his chin.
"What's your favorite color?"
She laughed "Thoughtful. Uh, blue. But I like all colors."
"Alright, fare enough." He thought again. "If you don't mind me asking, what's it like being the Minister of Magic's daughter?"
She bit her lip thinking how to explain. "I feel like I can trust you, okay?" He nodded. "I want to know what answer you're looking for when you ask me that. The bright side? The true side? Or all of the sides."
"All of the sides. I've got the time." He said offering her a smile. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but that made me mighty curious." He chuckled, and she nodded.
"Alright, bright side: big house. It's huge and pretty. Bad thing about that? I'm the only one that's ever there really, unless Lily or Em is there. Killer parties can be the good side to that." She laughed, and continued. "But sometimes it can get lonely. Anyway, another good thing is the money. Always getting what I want, and what my friends want. Bad thing, well there's nothing bad about that." She looked at Sirius who was listening intently and continued. "I love my daddy, I do. I respect him a lot, but sometimes it's really hard to be his daughter." She sighed. "Whenever I do anything wrong it has to be covered up, I can't be who I want to be, who I actually am, because it could jeopardize my fathers career." She leaned back in her chair and looked at Sirius who was staring at her. No one had noticed them talking yet. She smiled sheepishly at the boy next to her. "Sorry for unloading all of that on you."
"No, it was really refreshing." She looked at him oddly and he explained. "Well, it's just like… You have this image of being perfect. From the outside it truly looks like you life just works out, you and both of your friends. I don't know if I'm making any sense, but it just makes you seem even better. The fact that you're actually human."
Raelynn laughed nervously and looked at the odd boy before her. "You're the first person who has ever told me that being my imperfect self makes me better."
"Well, I wouldn't go as far to say imperfections or anything." He laughed as she pushed him. "But you're a great person, as far as I can tell."
"You're pretty great yourself." She replied as the class was dismissed. They walked back to the common room together and parted ways once Raelynn caught sight of her two best friends.
"So?" Emily asked wiggling her perfect eyebrows. "How'd it go."
"We went to class Em, not exactly an epic adventure." Rae replied laughing.
"Well, was he nice?" Lily asked sitting on the couch. "Nicer then yesterday?"
"Yes, he was actually one of the nicer people I've ever met."
Raelynn told them about their walk and conversation. She didn't know why, but she chose to leave out the topic of her father and let Lily and Emily gush over Sirius' apparent crush on her.
Their next class came soon enough. They sat in the Transfiguration class room waiting for Professor McGonagall to make her grand entrance when a loud crash came from the back of the class. Suddenly the room was engulfed in smoke and the students began to choke on the air.
Laughter came from the origin of the blast, and the same shrill voice that had sounded through the castle grounds the night before sliced through the smoke.
"Potter! Pettigrew! Black! Lupin!" She screamed. "Get in my office now! Everyone take a free period."
The girls fought their way through the smoke-ridden room, dodging students who were eager to use the hour for recreational purposes. Once they escaped the room they looked at eachother with worried expressions.
"What do you think that was?" Emily asked as the walked in the direction of the Gryffindor common room.
"I suppose one of their many infamous tricks." Lily replied.
"Wasn't a very good one," Emily ranted. "all they did was make a loud noise, suffocate their peers, and cancel the first Transfiguration class of the year."
"I suppose canceling Transfiguration was the plan then." Lily stated.
All the while Raelynn remained quiet, reserved to her thoughts as they walked through the portrait hole. After, of course a small tiff with the fat lady and letting Emily in. Lily, of course, sorted it right out. And they gathered around a small table in a corner of the common room.
The lavishly red and gold decorated room was empty except for the three girls, as all but one lesson was still going on.
"I suppose we should begin that ancient rune essay." Emily said thoughtfully to Lily who in return rolled her eyes but agreed. Raelynn had nothing to do so she quickly excused herself and made her way out of the portrait hole to explore some of the castle.
She admired the many paintings that greeted her. One rather talkative painting actually walked with her for a few minutes until she excused herself politely to the bathroom. When she came out of the bathroom she heard excited male voice coming from down the corridor. Raelynn wasn't sure she wanted company so she ducked back into the bathroom in the knick of time.
The four boys who had gotten in trouble turned the corner as she drew her head back into the bathroom.
"Padfoot, I can not believe you got us a month of detention!" Cried Remus, glaring at Sirius.
'Padfoot?' Raelynn thought to herself, confused.
"It wasn't all me, Moony!"
'Moony?' This was getting strange.
A short and fat boy trailed behind the three boys who were talking animatedly. Raelynn almost felt sorry for the boy who looked so out of place. She assumed he was the Pettigrew kid. When they had gone Raelynn withdrew herself from her sanctuary and followed the direction the boys had gone.
She passed the hour by walking up and down countless steps and corridors. Finally, Raelynn decided she could join her housemates in the common room.
She stepped through the portrait hole and found the common room empty. She shrugged and continued through the desolate room and up to her dormitory. She threw open the door and was hit in the face by a flying skirt.
"What the hell?" she asked, watching Lily scavenge through both her trunk and Raelynn's.
"What the hell is right!" Lily cried. "What the hell do you where to detention?"
Raelynn stared at her best friend, laughter threatening to tear her skull apart.
"Lily, do you honestly think that it matters?" she asked laughing as she settled down onto her bed. "We're going to be cleaning or what-not. Wear something comfortable."
"It has to be comfortable, but cute." She said holding a black T-shirt up against her in front of the mirror and tossing it aside.
"Lily," Raelynn said, walking over to her friend and putting her hands on her shoulders. "Everything is going to be okay. You look great in everything you put on. You are Lily freaking Evans." She shook her a little bit. "Say it, say "I am Lily freaking Evans!""
"I am Lily freaking Evans." Lily repeated quietly.
"Louder!" Raelynn shouted, enthusiastic with the pep talk.
"I am Lily freaking Evans!" Lily shouted. She smiled.
Both girls jumped when they heard sniggers in the doorway.
"Do you girls always do things like that?" Sirius asked amused.
"It sounded like you were about to play some hardcore Quidditch." James remarked.
Lily and Raelynn blushed deeply.
"How'd you guys even get up here?" Raelynn asked.
"We have our ways," Sirius winked. "We just thought you might like an escort to McGonagall's detention."
"I'm not ready yet." Said Lily.
"If you don't mind me saying," James began. "You look really pretty the way you are right now."
Lily rolled her eyes and turned away, blushing.
"Eh, I suppose you're right. That's ridiculous of me to say. You'd look really pretty no matter what." At this Lily blushed a deep red.
Raelynn smirked and took Lily's hand to make their way to the evil detention chamber. Skipping all the way of course.