OK I got this one up finally. I know it's been a little while, but I was a bit stuck on how to do the classes. Anyways, I am going to start on the next chapter as soon as this is posted, so I'd love some comments and critiques to keep me motivated! Hope you enjoy!
The Gryffindors had a break after breakfast, and James and Sirius used it as their time to gloat.
"Did you see her face? It was brilliant!" Sirius said as he leaned against the wall right outside of the Great Hall. His face shone with excitement although somehow he still managed to appear mostly cool and calm. James on the other hand, while excited and thrilled that their plan had worked, was still a bit nervous.
"Yeah mate, she was mad though. Do you think she'll turn us in?"
"Nah. She's not the type. "
"You're right. Did you see the other two? The red headed one looked like she was about to cry. Hilarious. She was so touchy on the train, she could do with a bit of a shake up."
"I know! I'd feel a little bad, but they're friends with Alice." Sirius hissed her name with such a large amount of spite that James was a bit shocked.
"You know she's not all bad right?"
Sirius looked at James as though he had uttered the most vulgar language on the planet. "Of course she is! She…she just is. Maybe you don't get it. But ugh. I hate her."
James gazed at Sirius, a little confused. "Didn't you love her yesterday or something?"
"I was wrong."
Both boys stopped talking as a small group of students walked past. James had been considering what Sirius said as they stood in silence when a nasty thought entered his head.
AJ was most likely going to want revenge.
Remus had been left behind when James and Sirius left the Great Hall. He wasn't too upset. They were loud, rowdy, and just in general not the kind of people he liked to be around. He did get up soon after they left though. He felt particularly healthy today as it was still nearly two weeks until the next full moon, so he decided to head out for a walk as he didn't have his first class for a little while still.
As he got outside the giant doors he took a deep breath of the fresh air and just started walking. He really needed to clear his head. So much had already happened during this one day that he hardly knew what to do. Would every day be this insane here? Would Robyn forgive him? Why was she with that Slytherin anyways? Probably because he wasn't good enough. He was a werewolf after all. He was probably way more dangerous than any Slytherin would ever be for her. But even if it was dangerous for her, he didn't want to lose her for himself. He didn't have anyone as close as her. He had no one else to lean on. He needed her.
Remus hadn't been paying much attention to where he was going, and was surprised to find himself near the Forbidden Forest. Looking around, he saw a tree that was out of place, slightly apart from the forest. He slowly approached it, knowing exactly why it was placed there. He was indebted to Professor Dumbledore. No other headmaster anywhere would have allowed a werewolf to attend school at their institution. But Dumbledore was no ordinary headmaster. He would gladly give anyone a chance, and he had invited Remus to attend Hogwarts. He had devised a plan to keep the other students safe from anything he may attempt to do while changed. Dumbledore created an underground path to a sealed up, "haunted" house in the nearby town of Hogsmeade, and to prevent students from accidently stumbling upon the entrance to the tunnel, he had planted a huge Whomping Willow on top of the entrance. The tree would viciously attack anyone who got within its reach. Only Dumbledore, Remus, and the nurse knew how to get the tree to allow them in. He approached the tree and spotted the massive knot near the base of the tree. The nurse would walk him out to this tree on the nights of the full moon and would use a stick to prod the knot to paralyze the tree momentarily to allow him inside.
In a way this tree was a sign of his miracle. He was able to attend Hogwarts. But it was also a sign of his curse. He slowly turned his back on the flailing tree and made his way back toward the castle.
By the time the three girls had gotten all of the pink scrubbed off of their skin and planned everything out, it was about time for their first class of their Hogwarts education. First on their schedule was History of Magic with a Professor named Binns. They had the class with all of the first year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws, and both sets of first years rapidly learned that this old man rambled on and on in a completely monotone voice. He barely reacted to Sirius' and James' whispered conversation in the back corner. Perhaps because his hearing was going and he just didn't hear them, but nevertheless, he also didn't react to a large portion of the class falling asleep at their desks. Lily, Robyn, Remus, and the Ravenclaws all managed to take notes throughout the entire period, but all parties were thrilled when the double block class was over.
After class AJ, Robyn, and Lily faded away from the crowd of students rushing off to lunch and made their way to their previously established meeting point. They entered the room to find three very comfortable chairs arranged in a circle around a table. On the table were an assortment of sandwiches and three glasses of pumpkin juice. Various bookshelves filled with books titled thing such as The Most Potent Potions of Revenge and They Will Pay: a Complete Array of Spells to Ensure Revenge. There were boards for brainstorming, and maps for planning purposes. There was also a clock counting down until the time that they would have to leave to be on time for their Herbology class. Eyeing the clock, they quickly got to work, nearly forgetting to eat their food.
AJ was all for finding a way to make the clothing disappear from the bodies of the three boys. She believed that they deserved to be embarrassed in front of everyone the way they had embarrassed her and her new friends. That reputation would never fade.
Robyn wanted something a little quieter, but more nasty. She wanted to find a way to spell rashes on their bodies. Hidden from the public, but extremely itchy so that the boys would have no way to ignore the feeling.
Similar ideas floated between the two girls, but Lily had yet to say a word. Suddenly she spoke up. "I say we make them look good."
"What?" the other two cried out, completely confused.
"If we make them look good then they will be terrified. They will expect something really terrible to be coming and will get really jumpy. They will always watch their backs."
Robyn started to catch on. "Did you see how everyone loved what happened to us? Maybe we should make these guys seem like pranking gods."
Then AJ had the finishing touches figured out. "How about we make them look good first, so they are afraid of what we do, and then we pull a prank on ourselves and set it up so they get in trouble for it. The guys would never believe we'd embarrass ourselves."
All three girls were starting to get excited. They were all on the same page and knew that they could get all of it figured out later they night. They were in no rush. They had seven years to make these boys' lives hell.
Herbology was an interesting class. They had it with the Hufflepuff first years and a young Professor Sprout. She definitely didn't lack in experience however. She was incredibly matter-of-fact in her teaching style. She made sure every student was looking at every plant and noticing all the right properties. Even Sirius and James couldn't find a way to screw around in her greenhouse.
Next they had a double block Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It was instructed by Professor Linor, a kind old man who claimed to fit as much into every class as he could manage. There was a lot of interest in his class. It was their first class in practical magic, and they were all excited to learn some spells. The class was very divided however. They had this class with the Slytherins, and so one half was all Gryffindor while the other half was for Slytherin.
"Now this won't do at all," Professor Linor said after seeing the seating arrangements. "If you were attacked, would you care who was at your side to help you? You'd want all the help you could find." After observing all of the students glaring up at him, Professor Linor spoke up again. "Alright. Unfortunately I can see you both will leave me with no choice. I shall be assigning partners for next class. Don't expect to be with someone from your own house."
His announcement was met by a chorus of indignant exclamations from his audience, but he quickly moved into his first lesson.
He dismissed them on time and the hallway was filled with the muttering of some very unhappy students.
"He can't do this!"
"They're evil. They'll kill me as I'm taking notes."
"This is the worst thing all day!"
One Slytherin boy even said, "He can't make me sit next to a bunch of mudbloods and blood traitors. My mum won't allow it."
Unfortunately for both houses, their next class was also together, and even worse, as they walked into their Transfiguration class with Professor McGonagall, she assigned them seats, all at random. A Slytherin might be flanked by Gryffindors or totally surrounded by other Slytherins. She didn't play favorites. She got straight to the point. As soon as everyone was seated she leaped into the air and right before their eyes she turned into a cat. There were gasps of shock as some had never seen anything like it before. The professor however left no room for chatting. She quickly changed back and got them to work.
They ended the day with another practical class, though much more calm than the last two. They had it with the Ravenclaws, who were really quite nice though did act a bit like know-it-alls sometimes. It was Charms with a middle-aged professor named Flitwick. They didn't really get a chance to start any spells on this day, but they did hear about a few they would get to use soon.
James and Sirius were thrilled when classes were over. They ran out into the halls and outside as quickly as they could. They slowed down to a walk once they were outside and made their way toward the large black lake.
"Hey Sirius?"
"Yeah James?"
"I've been thinking…"
"Ok?"
James didn't answer immediately. He was actually a bit apprehensive.
"James?"
Then the words spilled out of James's mouth in a rush. "."
"What?"
James took a deep breath. "I think AJ and her friends are going to try to get revenge on us for what we did."
"Ha right." Sirius scoffed. "AJ might do something like that. But the other two are too good to break any rules. And like they could get one up on us anyways."
"AJ could."
"Why do you always support her? She isn't smart. She isn't funny. She isn't pretty. She isn't good at anything."
"Ok Sirius."
"I'm glad we agree on something."
"Yeah…"
"JAMES! JAMES! Did you see that?" Sirius yelled pointing off toward the other side of the lake.
"No? What happened?"
"That tree just hit a bird!"
"Really? Is that a whomping willow? I didn't know they had any at Hogwarts."
"That's so cool! You think if we shoved AJ at it, it would hit her too?"
"Yeah…that is what those trees do. They're actually are really bad. They could hurt somebody."
"Why's it here then?"
"Who knows."
The girls on the other hand walked calmly out of class. They went back to the room to keep planning. They were almost there when AJ suddenly stopped. "I forgot! I have a book that can help make really good maps. We should each try to make one! I'll go get the book while you guys open up the room."
The other two nodded and began walking again. None of them noticed the boy hiding in the shadows nearby. Remus followed Lily and Robyn carefully, keeping at such a far distance he nearly lost them at a few of the turns. When he finally rounded the last turn he saw them turn around almost in his direction and he quickly ducked back. When he finally got the nerve to peek around again they were nowhere to be found. He jogged down the hallway to where there was a lone tapestry in the middle. Carefully he poked and prodded it trying to see if a doorway would appear. Just as he was about to give up, a loud crashing noise came from down the hall.
"Merlin! Sorry Book." AJ's voice floated around the corner. Remus took off at a sprint in the opposite direction. As soon as he turned the corner he sat on the floor gasping for air. He faintly heard her pacing back and forth and he looked around just in time to see her walk right through what had been a solid wall minutes earlier. Running forward, he attempted to walk through the wall where AJ had just been, and smashed face-first into a solid stone wall.
He grabbed his throbbing nose with one hand, tears streaming down his face. Shakily, he reached out one hand and ran his hand up and down over the wall, and a fair distance left and right. The entire thing was solid. After a few minutes he walked back down the hall and made his way back to the Gryffindor Common Room, a bad feeling settling in his stomach as he thought about what those three girls could be cooking up.