Chapter 4

For the next few weeks leading up to the Christmas Holidays, Lily stuck to Gail's side. Having a pair of emerald eyes follow here everywhere was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. Being shadowed constantly did little to improve their friendship. Gail had become more on edge.

"Lily?" Gail forced herself to call down the hallway one afternoon. She watched the redhead nervously take a step from behind a statue of a rather ugly witch.

"Is there a reason why you've been following me around for the past two weeks?" Gail asked quietly, fighting to keep her voice from hinting that she was annoyed by the lack of privacy.

Lily, for once in the two weeks, wouldn't even look at Gail. There was no eye contact for a few minutes. The silence was rather awkward. Anyone who walked down the hallway would probably question why there were two girls facing each other, separated as if they were going to duel. It was a duel, all right, just not like the normal ones. The two girls were competing based on who could stay quiet and have no eye contact for the longest.

Sighing, Gail finally gave up. She knew that Potter wouldn't bother her if she skirted around the places he usually haunted, "if you wanted to walk with me, you should have just said so. Where's Jo?"

"She went the direct root to save m- us a seat," Lily finally conceded, giving Gail a grateful look as she walked forward.

Gail would rather have the motherly Lily walking beside her than dogging her shadow. Of course, she would not admit that the loneliness had evacuated her life, and she would never admit that it was because of four prats.

"I always wondered how you could get to class without having things happen to you," Lily commented, "I never thought you were... well, clever enough to find different routes around the school."

"Self defense," Gail nodded, "I figured out how to get around school in the first year. Staying away for the pranksters, the Slytherins and the Ravenclaws."

"They've started getting people to call them 'the Marauders'," Lily commented, with a sour look on her face, "like their stupid group needed a name."

"Well," Gail grinned at her eminent joke, "it saves us time in calling them what they deserved to be called. Think about how much time we'll save instead of calling them 'Mr. Bed-wetter Pettigrew, Mr. Doesn't-own-hairbrush Potter, Mr. Sleeps-around Black, and Mr. Too-timid-to-speak Lupin'."

Lily laughed happily, "how did you know that he doesn't own a hair brush?"

"If he owns one, he doesn't know what it's for," Gail commented dryly, rolling her eyes.

The girls walked on quietly for a few moments until Lily broke the silence.

"Gail, something just fell out of your pocket."

Perplexed as to what it was, Gail turned around to see the folded picture sitting on the ground. She was quite glad that Lily had informed her. It was a rare photo of her father, and the first ever photo of the kitten. She hurriedly picked up the photo, and inspected it for dirt.

"A photo?" Lily asked curiously, peeking over the girl's shoulder, "aw! What a cute kitten!"

Gail looked up, and smiled brilliantly at Lily, her puffy cheeks curving a little bit. She nodded, "yes, my father bought him for me. I'll be able to bring him to Hogwarts after Christmas."

The two girls continued towards class, chatting about Gail's new kitten, and their shared love of small animals. There was a very gentle air about the girls, which was ruined within a second by one messy haired boy.

"Oh, look over there Padfoot," James Potter practically yelled across the hall, "looks like someone let the little mouse out of her nice, wooden cage. Evans must be Forester's new keeper!"

That stroked Lily's temper quickly. Gail, who knew that Potter was only trying to get a raise out of Lily, tugged the redhead's arm. The "marauders" had not bothered Lily before today because she had never shown up at the same time as Gail. The two girls entered the class as quickly as they could, and took seats near the front.

Gail heard Sirius' voice behind behind them, "our prank seems to have worked, Prongs!Congratulations."

Another, gentler voice responded sadly, "you did notice the scars on her face, Padfoot?"

"Who cares about some ugly girl?" Sirius let out a bark-like laugh, "besides, the small scar beside her nose gives her some character. Guys like that sort of thing. She should be thanking me."

That was the last that Gail heard. It took all of her willpower not to take any offense to being called "some ugly girl." Lily, on the other hand, glared daggers at the boys for the rest of the class.

For some reason, Lily had recently taken to dragging not only Jo, but also Gail, along wherever she went. To the bathroom, to classes, and to the Great Hall. Gail found it alarming that such a girl couldn't go to the loo by herself, for whatever reason. Being constantly surrounded by Lily and Jo began to make her feel a little tired.

They were nice girls, really, but it was a difficult transition between being alone and mostly ignored to being the target jokes spun by the Marauders. At least she was able to sneak off to Myrtle's bathroom for some alone-time. She usually brought her Magical Creatures textbook. She had spent many hours admiring the diagrams of different creatures. Her favourite creatures were dragons and crups. Most people were amazed by dragons, especially muggleborns. Gail was no different, but she also enjoyed looking at the crups, too. They looked just like cute, small dogs.

Today, though, she was walking by herself after having astronomy. Both Lily and Joe had Arithmacy, instead, so they couldn't keep her company. There was nothing for them to worry about, though, because the Marauders had Divination.

As she was thinking about heading to the Great Hall for dinner, she accidentally bumped shoulders with someone else, who looked like he wasn't paying attention either.

"Sorry," they both muttered at the same time, before taking a good look at who they had bumped into.

Gail's gaze trailed the boy's outline. His light brown hair fell gracefully to his ears. Gail was quite shocked that he made eye contact with her. He had soft brown eyes. All in all, he wasn't as attractive as his two friends, but the kindness in his eyes made up for it.

Gail took a few steps backwards, keeping her eyes fixed on the boy suspiciously. He was usually glued to a book. It was strange to see him standing there. She had forgotten that he was in her Astronomy class. Gail inched away from him slowly, only to be halted.

"Wait," Remus spoke in a pained tone, "can I... Can I have a word with you?"

Gail made eye contact again, staring into Remus' pleading eyes. He seemed somewhat sorrowful. She slowly nodded her head, halting her retreat for the moment. He seemed to breath a sigh of relief for a moment, before stiffening again.

"I would like to apologize on my part... I couldn't stop them when they..." Remus took a step forward.

And Gail took a step backwards, "when they hexed me and locked me in a very small cupboard for a day?"

Taken slightly aback, Remus nodded, "I sent Lily the letter telling her where you were early. I know that doesn't excuse me, or them, but..."

"I get it," Gail stated sharply, ignoring the wounded look on the gentle marauder's face, "I know I wouldn't have died in there. It's fine, no harm done."

Frowning, Remus shook his head, "you call the scars on your face 'no harm'?"

"Madam Pomfrey said that they'd go away, eventually," Gail commented nonchalantly. What were a few marks on her face when she had always been 'ugly' anyway.

There was an extremely awkward pause between the two. They were two people that normally wouldn't ever talk to each other. Remus scratched his neck nervously, diverting his gaze.

"So the worst they could come up with was a fireworks, a dungbomb and charm on the cupboard?" Gail asked, attempting to make small talk.

Remus turned a little rosy, before nodding, "well, Prongs would never do anything to seriously hurt Lily Evans. He fancies her... He just doesn't know how to get her attention properly."

Gail couldn't hide her smile. She almost felt pity for Potter; it was very obvious that Lily loathed him. He had her attention, but he'd received it the completely wrong way.

"Are you sure you should be telling me that?" Gail asked softly, turning her head to survey down the hall. It was deserted.

"I figured that you weren't as 'nasty' as Sirius believes," Remus stated wryly, his gaze following hers, "I heard your conversation with Peter that night, and we still haven't been punished for the Halloween feast."

"Mmm," Gail responded, "no, I didn't tell anyone that Peter admitted that you four did it. Besides, everyone knew you four did it anyway, they just didn't have proof."

"Well, thanks anyway. You saved us quite a few detentions," Remus nodded, "uh, I'd better get going before they come looking for me."

With that, Remus hurried off down the hall. Gail was glad that there was at least one agreeable, moderately likeable person in the group dubbed "The Marauders" by James Potter. Shaking her head, she slowly followed after the sandy haired boy. She lost sight of him quickly, but she figured that was just because he was walking faster. She hastened her pace towards the Great Hall.

At dinner time, she found Lily and the other Griffindor girls. There was an empty space beside one of the blondes, and she plopped herself down. Immediately, the girls all turned to her with a curious look. She was usually not late for meals.

"Sorry, some boy wanted to talk to me," Gail said calmly, shrugging.

Gail had never had the chance to make five girl's speechless before. She found it rather amusing. She attempted to keep her face straight as she scooped some food onto her plate.

"Who?" One of the blondes piped up. Gail had been getting better at recalling names recently. The one that spoke was named Amber Button. She was the one that usually started gossiping.

"Oh, leave her alone, Amber!" It was Avalon Clack's turn to talk, "she's not that kind of girl, you know!"

"Not pretty enough," Gail said around a mouthful of potatoes. Her bluntness caused a fit of giggles in the girls.

"Wait... What?" The clueless voice of Melanie Range trailed off, "what are you laughing at? Guys?" This just made the others laugh harder.

Jo turned to Lily after calming her laughter down, "going home during Christmas, Lily?"

Lily nodded enthusiastically, "I can't wait to see my parents and Tuney. I miss them so much."

Amber pouted, "that means that the Marauders will leave us alone this Christmas... Unless Gail is here. Gail?"

Gail spluttered, and shook her head before swallowing her mouthful of roast beef, "sorry, I'm going home during the holidays. I don't want my dad to be alone."

Amber looks saddened, but Avalon nodded knowingly, "well, it'll be quieter here, then. The four of us can even have snowball fights without being interrupted."

Christmas break seemed so much longer than the last two years. Gail had been happy to spend some time with her father, but she was also glad to be heading back to Hogwarts. Her kitten, she found, was a boy. She had decided to name the black silver tabby Mati.

Mati was an intelligent kitten with inquisitive grey-blue eyes. The kitten had been happily catching rats and mice since it arrived at Hogwarts. One Saturday morning, it had cornered a rather fat rat in the Griffindor common room. Licking his lips, Mati prowled forward. The rat scooted as far back into the corner as her could, practically shaking out of fear.

"There you are Mati," Gail walked up behind the kitten, who had grown quite a bit over the weeks. Mati could almost look Mrs. Norris in the eyes, "oh Mati, you scared that poor rat into the corner."

Gently, Gail pushed the kitten to the side and reached her hand out to the rat. It had to be one of the student's pets. She picked the rat up gently. Gently, she rubbed a thumb over the rat's head, she looked around. There wasn't anyone in the common room, most of the students were still asleep. Gail had woken up early, and had decided to go for breakfast.

"Where's your owner, hmm?" Gently, she placed the rat onto her shoulder, "well, come with me then, I'll get you something to eat at breakfast."

Turning around, she found Sirius Black staring at her suspiciously, "talking to yourself? That's sane."

"I was not, someone's pet rat was about to become dinner for my cat," Gail pointed at her shoulder. Sirius' eyes started to bulge slightly, "is he yours?"

"Uh..." Sirius seemed unable to answer for a second, "no no, that's Peter's rat. I'll take him up to our dormitory, if you don't mind."

"Oh, okay," Gail gently plucked the rat off of her shoulder, placing the rat carefully in Sirius' outstretched hand, "tell Peter that I'm sorry his rat was almost eaten. I'll try to keep a closer eye on Mati in the future."

"Mati? Odd name..." Sirius muttered, obviously displeased about having to carry the rat. He stalked away and up the stairs rather quickly.

Gail shrugged, a little sad that the little rat would be returned to its owner so quickly. She hadn't even learned the rat's name. Slowly, she trudged towards the Great Hall with her kitten following closely behind her.

Author Note:

Thank you for reading up to chapter 4! Because of this monumental occasion, there will be a bonus deleted scene. Well, maybe not a deleted scene. It will be one of few scenes that are seen from the eyes of the marauders.

Without further ado, here is a deleted scene and an extra scene.

-Rue

Extra scene: Pet Rat

As soon as Sirius entered the dormitory, he sat the rat down on the floor, "okay, Wormtail, time for you to turn back."

The rat seemed to grow. Within a second, Peter Pettigrew was standing in front of Sirius with a bashful look on his face. "Hey Padfoot," Peter drawled, scuffing his toe absently on the ground.

"What do you think you were doing, Wormtail? We agreed not to use our animagi unless it was a full moon," Sirius growled, giving the boy a stern look.

"Wassamatter?" James' voice drifted out from under the covers of a bed, "itso early..."

"Messier Wormtail decided to sneak around in his animal form, Prongs," Sirius grumbled, eyeing Remus' bed. It was normal for Moony to sleep in on weekends. He was an extremely heavy sleeper.

"Hrm... Late night with your girlfriend, Wormy?" James' chuckle emanated from below the covers. He flung the covers off and draped his legs over the side of the bed. One side of James' hair was perfectly flat, and the other side looked like a porcupine. Shoving his glasses onto his face, he blinked around blearily.

"How'd Sirius catch you?" James asked, fixing his eyes on Peter.

Peter grinned, turning a little pink in the face, "Gail Forester's cat cornered me. I was about to change back when she showed up and well... She rescued me."

James' eyes bulged out, similarly to how Sirius had looked minutes ago, "Lily's friend? Peter! Did she know it was you?"

Peter shook his head, speaking happily, "no, she was really nice. She ever rubbed my head. Sirius told her that I was my own pet."

Sirius finally shrugged his bad mood off. He grinned and messed up Peter's hair, "just don't do it again. You can walk through the common room in the morning like everyone else. You don't have to sneak around, it's not like anyone cares that you spent all night with your girlfriend."

"I didn't!" Peter protested, "I got hungry this morning, so I went down to the kitchen. I figured I could practice changing and holding my animagus form on the way back."

Sirius rolled his eyes. Peter was the only one that still needed to practice. If he didn't practice between full moons, he would forget how to change, or he would forget how to stay in his rat form. Wormtail was a bit of an air head like that.

"So you like Gail?" James asked, grinning cheekily at his friends, "you think she's cute?"

Peter looked shocked, and quickly shook his head, "no! She just has a way with animals, that's all. I felt like I could trust her when she offered me her hand."

"Most girls would scream," Sirius commented, stroking his chin.

"And let their cat chow down," James added.

"Thank goodness she's not normal!" Peter smiled, "now, I'm going back to bed."

"Keep it down," Remus huffed, rolling over and continuing to sleep deeply.

Deleted Scene #3: Mud or Jello?

The cupboard opened to reveal a familiar redhead. Lily stared at her with cold, emerald eyes. The lights behind her half-blinded Gail. A sneer formed on Lily Evans' face. Several dark figures moved behind the redhead. Gail could make one out to be Severus Snape. The others must have been Hufflepuffs.

"This is what you get for crossing us, you filthy, fat halfblood," Lily spat, holding her wand at Gail's throat, "your betrayal will not go unpunished."

"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE, EVANS!" A red beam hit Lily in the back, stunning her and effectively dropping the girl to the ground.

Spells were hurled around the room. The Hufflepuffs knew they stood no chance, so they ran as soon as they could while hurling spells over their shoulders.

"Are you alright, Forester?" James stepped over Lily's body and offered a hand to Gail. Stumbling out of the cupboard, she slipped slightly, falling straight into James' arms,. James smiled as he caught Gail, "whoa, easy there."

James eased the podgy girl out of his arms and grinned down at her, "looks like your hiding spot didn't work too well."

Sirius peered over James' shoulder, looking at the tawny haired girl, "you're lucky we got here in time. Evans' gang likes to dabble in the dark arts."

Remus stood on the girl's other side, "Gail! You look horrible! You should have been more careful. What would we do without you?"

With that, Remus launched himself forward, hugging the plump girl tightly, "who else would ease my pain after a rough transformation!"

"Oh Remus," Gail sobbed frantically, clutching at Remus' clothes, "I was so scared!"

Remus gently rubbed the back of Gail's head, "there there, it's fine. Nothing happened."

Sirius frowned, grabbing Gail's shoulder and pulling her into a hug. He effectively separated his lover from the arms of Remus, who always tried to steal her away, "there there, Gail."

Gail looked shocked, "what? But last time you had James hex me when I tried to- oomph."

"What are you talking about?" Sirius laughed, pushing Gail's head into his muscular shoulder, "I don't remember that happening!"

"That's it, Black! It's time to settle this!" Remus hollered, removing his robes and his shirt to reveal several scars on his pale chest, "I've decided that we must do HAND TO HAND combat for the girl."

Sirius released Gail. In slow motion, Sirius stripped his robes and shirt off, too. He tackled Remus without another word. Chairs skidded across the room. Peter, James and Gail stared at the two as they wrestled.

"This would be better if they were wrestling in mud... or jello."