"Guess who?" Feminine hands covered Sirius' eyes. Sirius covered the hands with his own and then extended his arms backwards trying to grab the girl. The girl squeaked and retreated further back dropping her hands from his eyes. Sirius turned around and laughed.
"I'm surprised your not already at breakfast. Were you waiting for me?" Adrianna asked flirtatiously.
"Actually I was waiting for Nicole," Sirius said nonchalantly. Adrianna was disappointed but quickly hid it behind a smile.
"She's having a lie-in. She said she would be down in a few though. I wouldn't worry," Adrianna said beginning to walk toward the portrait hole. She looked behind her and noticed that Sirius was still in the same spot looking up at the stairs. She called out to him.
"Sirius?" He turned and looked at her.
"Come on let's go to breakfast. She'll be fine," Adrianna said reassuringly. Sirius gave one last look at the stairs before walking over to Adrianna. She laced her arm through his and made their way to the Great Hall.
The Great Hall was full of early risers who were talking with friends and enjoying the food before the first morning class at nine. Sirius sat on the bench next to Remus with Adrianna following suit. They sat across from Marlene and James who noticed their intertwined arms.
"I'm starving," Sirius said untangling himself from Adrianna to pour himself some juice. Adrianna held out her goblet and he poured some in hers as well. They both started loading up their plates with sausages, eggs, and pancakes.
"Where's new girl?" James asked looking at Marlene and Adrianna.
"She had a late night," Adrianna said matter-of-factly.
"What does that mean?" Remus asked pouring sugar into his oatmeal.
"She left the dormitory last night and didn't return until like one," Adrianna said taking a sip from her goblet.
"Lily said that she looked pretty upset when she left. Probably just went somewhere to clear her head," Marlene clarified. Adrianna waved it off.
"Speaking of Lily, how come you guys aren't sitting together? You guys get into a fight or something?" James asked looking from Marlene to Adrianna. They both avoided his gaze and ate from their plate.
"What did you guys do?" Sirius asked looking pointedly at Adrianna.
"Nothing," Both of the girls said together. James looked at them unconvinced. James threw his fork down and got up from the table.
"Stay out of it James!" Marlene called out trying to stop him. It was too late. James was already headed to an area father down the table where Peter, Sansa, and Lily sat eating their breakfast. James clapped his hand on Peter's back as he sat in the open seat next to him. Lily stopped talking mid-sentence as soon as James sat down.
"You look nice Evans. Slept well?"
"What do you want Potter?" Lily snapped.
"Just asking how you slept love. No harm no foul," James said holding his hands up in surrender with a huge cocky grin on his face. Lily hated that grin. There was silence as James kept looking at Lily waiting for a response.
"I slept fine," Lily said between clenched teeth.
"Really? Cuz I heard that there had been a row while you all were in your knickers. You know I could help..." James said wagging his eyebrows.
"Enough Potter."
"I'm concerned Evans. If you and the other girls got into some type of row then..."
"Then it's none of your business! How conceited are you? The inner-workings of me and my friends have nothing to do with you!" Lily snapped.
"You're right Evans. How about I make it up to you. First Hogsmeade trip is coming up, I'll take you out..."
"Alright James. Time for you to go back to where you came from," Sansa interrupted. She got up from her seat and pulled James from his seat as Lily just shook her head at James' antics.
"Here you can take Peter with you," Sansa said sitting back down.
James and Peter walked away from Lily and Sansa. James blew a kiss to Lily before making his way back to the others farther down the table.
"He returns bringing gifts," Sirius said enthusiastically gesturing to Peter. Everyone greeted Peter as he sat down next to James.
"Look who's finally up," James said gesturing his head in the direction of the Great Hall.
They all turned to watch Nicole stumble to breakfast, hair wild. Sirius raised his hand and called out to Nicole. Nicole noticed and walked over to where Sirius and the rest of them sat rubbing her tired eyes the entire way. She popped down next to Remus, and laid her head face down on the table. She looked dead. It was Remus who spoke first.
"Are you okay?" Remus asked hesitantly. Nicole nodded, her head still on the table.
"Are you hungry?" Sirius asked. Nicole raised her head and looked around the table that had all different sort of interesting looking breakfast food. She shook her head and laid it back on the table.
"Are you drunk?" James asked blatantly. Marlene elbowed in him in his side.
"Ow! What was that for?" James asked Marlene.
"She's probably still upset from whatever happened last night," Marlene said in a hushed voice. James just shrugged and continued eating his breakfast. Nicole's head was still face down on the table her hair splayed out around her.
Peter, who was sitting across from Nicole, leaned across the table and lifted up her hair trying to see her face. Nicole raised her face, so that her chin was resting on the table as Peter continued to hold her hair in his hands above her head. Peter offered her a smile and dropped Nicole's hair which fell covering her face.
Nicole sat up straight and tried to blow the hair out of her face. A couple of strands moved but the thick majority stayed in place. Nicole ran her hands through her hair pushing it back from her face and loosely tucking it behind her ears. It was then she noticed that the other Gyrffindors where staring at her with quizzical expressions. Nicole could only imagine what type of impression she was making.
Nicole couldn't help it. Mornings were not her thing especially since she had been out the previous night with Avery. She had thought that she was going to be able to sleep in today but soon realized that they had classes that day.
"Better?" Remus asked taking a sip of juice.
"Almost..." Nicole looked around the table, searching for the one thing she needed desperately. She whimpered.
"What's wrong?" Peter asked concerned.
"I don't see any Joe," Nicole answered. It was more of thinking aloud than a direct answer. The other students looked at Nicole in complete confusion as Nicole continued to look around the table and pout.
"Who?" Sirius asked. Remus snickered and continued to eat his oatmeal.
Nicole wasn't paying attention but instead continued to look around the table, looking for something that resembled coffee. She found a huge kettle. She made an excited squeal and grabbed it. She opened it and was immediately disappointed as she saw nothing but hot water. She soon realized that it was a different type of kettle than the one she was looking for. Remus leaned over.
"Looks like you're not in Kansas anymore," Remus said smiling. Nicole playfully glared at him.
"Cheeky bastard," Nicole muttered. Remus laughed and noticed the rest of the table watching their exchange. Remus cleared his throat and continued eating his breakfast, refusing to meet the gaze of the other people at the table.
Nicole moved the kettle away from her and put her head on the table in a very audible huff.
"What the bloody hell is wrong with you?" Adrianna asked exasperated.
"Such language. I expect you not use such words Ms. Monroe." McGonagall scolded. She was standing behind where Nicole, Remus, Sirius and Adrianna sat with papers in her hands. Adrianna muttered an apology as her cheeks gathered a pink tinge.
"Here are your timetables for this year," McGonagall said handing each student a piece of parchment except Nicole. She turned toward her.
"The headmaster and I would like to meet with you before class starts. If you could please follow me."
Nicole got up from her seat and followed McGonagall out of the Great Hall. The other students were all focused on their schedules except for Adrianna.
"What was up with her?" Adrianna hissed.
"Who? McGonagall?" Marlene asked looking up at Adrianna.
"No. Nicolaia. I mean she's totally mad!"
"No she's not," Sirius stated
"Come on! All that crap about 'Joe'."
"Yeah, that was sort of weird," Peter quietly chimed in. Remus smiled.
"What's up Remus?" Marlene asked looking in his direction. Remus just shook his head.
"Don't give us that. You were laughing before when she grabbed the tea kettle. What gives?" James asked
"Coffee." Everyone looked confused.
"In America, 'Joe' is slang for coffee. That's why she grabbed the tea kettle. She thought it was a coffee pot," Remus explained. Everyone seemed satisfied with that explanation except Adrianna.
"I still think she's mad." Adrianna said flipping her hair out of her face. No one decided to comment.
It was the first day of classes for the 1974-1975 school year and for fourth year Gryffindor students that meant Potions with Professor Slughorn. Marlene and Adrianna were walking down the dungeon corridor laughing and talking.
"Look who it is!" Marlene said in a sing-song voice. Adrianna turned and looked in the direction that Marlene gestured to. A smile immediately spread across Adrianna's face. They continued walking down the corridor and met the boy halfway. Adrianna stopped and smiled at the boy.
"I'll see you at Potions Adi. Looking good Diggory!" Marlene called out as she continued walking toward the potions classroom. Adrianna looked up into brown eyes that she had become so accustomed to over the summer.
"Hi," Amos said his voice soft. Adrianna smile and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly on the lips, which received several catcalls from passing students. They both laughed at the attention.
"What are you doing down here?" Adrianna asked.
"Slughorn wanted to talk to me about setting up an interview with the Ministry. He said that it will help for people to know my name before I take the N.E.W.T's next year," Amos said excitedly
"Slughorn's always looking out for his favorites," Adrianna said a little more sharply than she had intended. She was happy that Amos was apart of the infamous Slug Club, she just wished that she had been invited to.
"So I was thinking that maybe we could do something after classes," Amos said playing with Adrianna's hand.
"Something like what?" Adrianna said stepping closer
"I don't know. Maybe go for a walk by the lake or maybe..."
"2 FEET!" Sirius yelled startling everyone in the corridor. He came up to Adrianna and Amos and squeezed between them. Adrianna laughed while Amos looked confused about what was going on.
"All couples must stay at least at least 2 feet from each other," Sirius stated. He was standing beside the two as students walked around them.
"Well that doesn't sound like much fun," Adrianna said smiling. She kept looking at Sirius.
"Those are the rules my dear unless..." Sirius got a serious look on his face and looked around before gesturing Amos and Adrianna to come in closely.
"That doesn't apply to snogging," Sirius whispered.
"So as long as we are snogging then we don't have to be 2 feet apart from each other," Adrianna asked.
"That's the rules, which is excatly why I suggest snogging at every possible moment. It's the only logical way," Sirius said winking at Amos.
"You should hurry though it's almost 9." Sirius clapped Amos on the back before continuing down the corridor striking up a conversation with another student along the way.
Adrianna continued to look in the direction that Sirius went, smiling about his crazy antics. He always knew how to make a girl laugh.
"So what do you say?" Adrianna looked back at Amos completely unaware of what he had said before Sirius popped out of nowhere.
"Yeah sure whatever. I got to get to class," Adrianna said in a rush. She kissed Amos on the cheek and went in the direction of the Potions classroom leaving Amos confused about what had just happened.
Amos sighed and began walking to his first class in the opposite direction.
"Good morning students. Please find a seat, wherever you please."
"Are you alright Professor Slughorn?"
"Quite fine Ms. Evans, my dear. Quite fine," Professor Slughorn said sitting at his desk in the front of the room.
Students were sitting at their work tables looking at Slughorn who looked the exact opposite of "quite fine". His face was flushed and his eyes were puffy and red. The students couldn't figure out if he had been crying or drinking or perhaps, a little of both.
"I would like you all to turn to page 13. We will not be making the antidote to Veritaserum today but for the next class meeting on Wednesday you will be tested on ingredients and process. I advise you all to take notes. Now if you'll excuse me for a moment."
Slughorn got up from his desk, with a daily prophet tucked firmly beneath his arm, and walked to the back of his classroom where his office was. It was obvious that something was wrong with him. Lily got up from her seat and followed Slughorn to his office where the door closed shut behind them.
Unsupervised, the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff students began finishing their conversations from breakfast.
Sirius was looking around the room at nothing in particular, even though the look on his face gave the impression that he was indeed searching for something. James, who was sitting across from Sirius, picked up on Sirius' behavior.
"Oi!" Sirius turned to James.
"What are you looking for mate?"
"Huh? oh, um...nothing," Sirius said nonchalantly.
"Whatever you say...there's new girl!" James said gesturing in the direction of the front of the classroom.
Sirius turned toward the door and saw no one there. He turned back to James who was eyeing him suspiciously. Sirius couldn't believe he fell for that.
"Don't let her hear you call her 'new girl', you might make her feel unwelcome."
"Who's unwelcome?" Remus asked appearing at the table with Peter beside him.
"Apparently by calling new girl, 'new girl' I am upsetting Sirius. You know he has a thing for her," James explained. Sirius flipped James off.
"I don't blame you. If my heart wasn't already taken by someone else, I would totally go for it. She's pretty cute."
"She's hot," Remus said quietly. All three boys turned to look at Remus.
"What?!" Remus asked innocently, his cheeks turning a bright pink.
"Guess that's why the two of you were so close this morning. Watch out Sirius, looks like you got some competition."
"Not even James. I don't even know her," Remus said turning his attention to his potions book.
James shrugged and ruffled his hair so that it looked like he just came from riding on his broom, which gained him the attention of several girls in the room. Sirius just laughed at his best friend.
"What do you think your parents would say?" Peter asked to no one in particular.
"About what?" James asked. Peter began fiddling with his robes as he spoke.
"About having someone like Nicolaia as a girlfriend."
"Someone like Nicolaia...what do you mean?" Remus asked. The three boys weren't sure where this conversation was heading.
"You know..." Peter leaned in close and the other boys followed suit. "An American." Peter whispered. The boys considered Peter's question, not entirely sure where it had even come from, though Peter was known for his randomness.
"I'm guessing your folks would be upset." Sirius said.
"My mum would absolutely kill me!" Peter said in a huff.
"Codswallop. Your mum is so nice," James said. He couldn't believe what Peter was saying seeing how he had met Mrs. Pettigrew on several occasions.
"When it comes to foreigners she's mental, especially Yanks. You should hear the things she says about the girls. She called them all slags! She wants me to be happy but I think that she would rather they not be American." The boys began laughing.
"That's so hard to believe. Your mum seems like a nice little old lad," James said slinging his arm around Peter's shoulders.
"Not when it comes to dating. I swear she's completely mental sometimes," Peter said.
"Well what about you?" Peter asked looking at James.
"My mum? I don't think she care much either way to be honest. Same with dad. She just wants lots of grand kids. I swear if I was to tell her tomorrow that I had gotten a girl pregnant she'd be the happiest mum in all of Europe."
"That makes sense. I mean, no offense, but both of your parents are fairly old. I'm sure they wouldn't mind having another baby running around the house," Sirius explained.
"Especially one with green eyes and red hair," Remus teased. They laughed.
"What about you Remus?" Sirius asked. "What would your mum say?"
"My mum is a complete nutter. She was doing this research about...um...about..." Remus hesitated not wanting anyone to overhear.
"About your furry little problem," James provided.
"Yeah...that. Anyway. Whatever she was reading said something about uncontrollable hormones, so now she goes completely mental every time I even mention a girl's name! She's convinced that I'm going to ravage some poor girl. She keeps trying to have the talk with me and tell me to try to 'restrain' myself if I ever feel the 'urge'."
The boys laughed loudly at Remus' predicament, attracting the attention of several other tables near them.
"What about you Sirius?" Peter asked sobering.
"The great Walburga Black. As long as the blood is pure she wouldn't care where they're from, which leaves me with a limited choice of Slytherins, many of whom are related to me," Sirius said contemptuously.
He hated his mother's fervent belief in blood purity. Now that Sirius was getting older and was the first born son, Walburga had made more than subtle hints about prospective girls who would be suitable for him to date. Just thinking about his mother had turned his mood sour. He wished he had parents more like his friends.
"Technically they're not the only ones," Peter said trying to lift Sirius' mood.
"Adrianna comes from a pure-blood family in Spain and we don't know about Nicolaia. So there's two more to add to the list," Remus said cheerfully. Sirius smiled at the gesture.
The classroom door opened and Dumbledore walked in with Nicole behind him carrying her books in her arms.
"Where is Professor Slughorn?" As if on cue, Professor Slughorn emerged from his office looking better than before. Lily exited the office as well and took a seat among her fellow students who were all watching the situation unfold.
"Headmaster, to what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Just dropping off a new student. She was with me, the reason for her tardiness." Professor Slughorn nodded and guided Nicole to his desk at the front of the room while the students whispered among themselves and Dumbledore quietly left the room.
Slughorn sat at his desk and peered at a list. He looked back up at Nicole from the papers.
"You're a new student here, a transfer I presume?" Nicole nodded. "You look quite familiar." Nicole smiled.
"We met sir. Last spring. I came to visit with my uncle."
"You're uncle...Antonin! Of course. You're mother's Sofia right?" Nicole nodded.
"Very talented your mother was. And your uncle. I taught them both," Slughorn said.
"They both speak very highly of you," Nicole said smiling.
"Lets gets this business out-of-the-way, shall we." Slughorn returned to focusing on the paper and scanned looking for Nicole's name. Nicole noticed he was having trouble finding it.
"It might be under Henderson," Nicole offered using her father's surname.
"Ah. Got it. I'll just make the correction to Dolohov and make sure the other teachers have it as well," The list disappeared in a puff of smoke as soon as Slughorn finished writing on it.
Slughorn came from behind his desk and turned Nicole to face the class.
"This is Nicolaia Dolohov. She's a transfer student. I expect each and every one of you to help Ms. Dolohov in making this a smooth transition. Ms. Evans?"
"Yes Professor?"
"I would like you to get Ms. Dolohov up to speed and partner with her for the time being." Lily nodded and smiled at Nicole.
She went to sit by Lily who began walking her through the antidote recipe. Nicole noticed Sirius and the other Gryffindor boys not to far from her and raised her hand in greeting. They all waved back.
"I guess we now know about Nicolaia," Remus said leaving the table with Peter to return to their own.
"Yeah I guess we do," Sirius said quietly.
Nicolaia was not just from a pure blood family, but from a family that was well-known for their own fervent belief in blood purity.
"Alright class. See you all on Wednesday," Professor Slughorn announced.
Students began picking up their belongings and heading off to their next class.
"Um...Thanks again Lily, even though you really didn't have a choice." Nicole said with a hint of laughter in her voice.
"That's rubbish. I would have offered to help out anyway." Lily smiled.
Nicole felt that her and Lily were already on their way to becoming fast friends since Slughorn had made them partners. Nicole could tell that potions was Lily's favorite class by the way her green eyes sparkled while explaining the material to Nicole. Lily even gave Nicole a few tips that was sure to help her pass the test on Wednesday. They both got their belongings and left the classroom.
"So Quidditch is a big deal here?" Nicole asked Lily as they were walking toward their next class. Lily nodded.
"There's a whole tournament with a house cup and everything. It's pretty fun, people really get into it," Lily explained. Nicole nodded, and Lily picked up on Nicole's hesitance.
"Oh, right. They don't play Quidditch in the States do they?"
"No they do. We have our own national team, and city teams. Quodpot's a lot more popular but personally, I don't mind Quidditch. What about you?"
"I love quidditch! I don't really have the skill to play but it's still exciting to watch."
"So when's the first game?" Nicole asked.
"Some time in November, so it's a while off. Though if you hang around Potter you would swear that the game was next week or something," Lily said shaking her head in disgust.
Nicole was a little taken aback at the sudden shift in mood as well as the random mention of "Potter". Nicole assumed it was one of the Gryffindor boys but wasn't sure which one, as she only knew them by their first names.
"Did you guys, like, used to date or something?" Nicole asked.
"WHAT!?" Lily screeched. She was so loud that several students who were also in the hallway stopped and looked at Lily. She regained her composure.
"There is no way that I would ever date that insufferable toerag. He's a bloody bleeder, that Potter!" Lily had lowered her voice but there was agitation and annoyance written clearly across her face. Her cheeks had turned the color of her hair.
"Um...ok...I'm not exactly sure what that stuff means but I'm assuming that it's bad...he's not the skinny brown-haired one, Remus, right?" Lily calmed.
"No. Not Remus. Potter's the one with the black hair that sticks up and looks like he just got off a broom, even though it's obvious he didn't. He has round circular glasses, typical Quidditch build, taller than both of us but a little shorter than Sirius."
Nicole tried to follow all of the details. She wasn't sure how Lily could go from calling him, what Nicole assumed was very bad names, to describing him as if he was apart of some sort of study.
"So...Potter is James' last name," Nicole said simply. She was eyeing Lily suspiciously. Lily rolled her eyes.
"Come on. We'll be late for Herbology," Lily said pulling Nicole the rest of the way to the class.
Herbology class was a complete drag, as were most classes the first day. Of course, Professor Sprout decided to assign a large homework assignment. Thankfully the fourth years didn't see her again until Thursday. Students began packing up their belongings.
"Lily, can we talk?" Adrianna said coming over to where Nicole and Lily gathered their belongings. Lily looked to Nicole.
"Go. Talk. Don't worry about me...Hey Remus! Walk to class with me?" Nicole called out.
"Sure." Remus and Nicole left the herbology classroom with the other students. Lily and Adrianna exited at a slower pace.
"Look," They both spoke at the same time. Lily gestured for Adrianna to go first.
"Look, I'm really sorry for what I said in the carriage. It was rude and completely uncalled for. It's just that...you mean so much to me and with everything that is going on...I just worry. That doesn't give me the right to say what I said though," Adrianna said.
"I'm sorry too. It was completely wrong to say that about Amos and you. I think you are a wonderful person and Amos is lucky to have you as a girlfriend." The two girls hugged each other.
"How about we have a girl afternoon after classes? Just me, you, Sansa, Marlene, and Nicolaia. It will be fun." Lily hesitated
"I swear I wont say anything to the guys." Adrianna motioned zipping her mouth close and then smiled at Lily who smiled back. Lily nodded yes.
"This is going to be so much fun. We'll do manicures and pedicures..."
"What did I get myself into?" Lily said shaking her head at her girly friend.