Remus walked down Platform 9 ¾ , looking around for his friends, but it appeared that he was the first of his gang to arrive. He leaned against the wall and pulled a book from his pocket, but before he could find his place, someone nudged his elbow. Solstice grinned up at him. "Good summer?" she asked. The top of her head barely reached his shoulder; always small for her age, she'd never grown taller than 5 ft, and Remus felt a sudden unaccountable urge to put his arm around her protectively. Only the thought of her startled reaction stopped him. He looked away, feeling slightly flustered, and when he looked back she was watching him with a faintly puzzled expression. "Was it that bad?" she asked sympathetically.

"What?"

"Your summer."

"Oh – no, it was okay. The usual." With relief he suddenly remembered her mentioning new foster parents. "How about you? Did the new family work out?"

Solstice smiled. "Oh yes! I wrote to them all last year, and we go on really well. In fact…" she took a deep breath. "They said they're going to start the process to officially adopt me!" Her face was glowing, and impulsively Remus put his hand on her shoulder.

"That's wonderful news! What are they like?"

"Well, they're older than my other foster parents – they could never have their own kids. They both work for the Ministry of Magic, but they're in the department of mysteries, so they couldn't tell me very much. Mira took the summer off, so she was always around, but she let me do mostly what I wanted – they live in Cornwall, so I was out exploring Bodmin Moor a lot of the time."

"I bet you were studying, too," Remus said with a smile.

"Of course – OWLs this year! Anyway, you can't talk, you had your head in a book when I saw you just now."

He nodded. "Yes – It's important for me to do well." A sudden thought struck him. "Solstice – Professor Slughorn said at the end of last term that he wants each of us to work with the same study partner all through fifth year. Do you – I mean, would you like to, well, partner with me?"

"Yes, that would be great. We make a pretty good team."

At her words, Remus felt his stomach give a slight lurch. What on earth was wrong with him? He'd never felt this way around Solstice before. Luckily, she hadn't noticed his reaction, as she had caught sight of the badge pinned to his robes. "Remus – you're a prefect!"

He grinned a bit self-consciously. "Yeah – I got the badge with my Hogwarts letter this year.

"You know what this means, don't you? You'll be expected to keep Potter and Black in line from now on!"

She laughed at his look of consternation, and he said,"Yeah – can you see their faces if I started giving them detention?"

Solstice chuckled, then spotted Lily further down the platform. She patted Remus's arm briefly and said, "I'll see you on the train – I haven't talked to Lily all summer."

He watched as she darted off down the platform, feeling slightly bemused. This could prove, he thought wryly, to be an interesting year.

Solstice caught up with Lily, who seemed to be having some kind of argument with Snape. "I heard what you said!" she was saying as Solstice approached them.

"It didn't mean anything," he protested. "It's just a figure of speech."

"To you, maybe. I'm sure it's common currency at Malfoy Manor! But it's a horrible expression. Do you think my blood is dirty?"

"No, of course not. I don't understand why you're taking it personally."

"Because most people who use the term Mudblood do it because they think people like me are inferior!"

Snape flushed, but before he could reply, Solstice appeared at Lily's side, looking faintly worried. "Is something wrong?"

"Let's just call it a difference of opinion," Lily said, with an edge to her voice. She turned away from Snape. "Let's go, Solstice. I'm sure Sev wants to travel with his Slytherin pureblood pals!"

As Lily stormed back up the platform, Solstice hesitated, looking at Snape. He glared back, defensively, and Solstice said, "Sorry Sev – I suppose I'll see you at school…"

He nodded curtly, and turned away, leaving Solstice to follow Lily. The two girls found an empty compartment, and settled themselves in window seats, waiting for the journey to start. Lily pulled a copy of the Daily Prophet from her bag. "Have you been reading the papers this summer?"

Solstice shook her head. "No, they didn't take it. Why, what's happened?"

"Well – it's hard to know exactly, but it sounds as if there's a gang of people going round causing trouble. It's that stupid pureblood stuff again – you know, only purebloods are 'real' wizards, and everyone else is less than dirt. They're trying to get things changed at the Ministry of Magic, but the Daily Prophet's had some stories about them attacking people who don't agree with them. There was one back in the spring, a man was found dead and his mother claimed he was killed by this gang. She said they call themselves Death Eaters."

"Ugh, what was he, a muggle-born?"

Lily shook her head. "No, that's why it's had so much coverage, he was the heir of the Jordain family, one of the richest wizard families in England. He was Lucius Malfoy's cousin, and his mother's been accusing Malfoy of being involved, and being one of those Death Eaters. It's been a huge scandal, the Malfoys are demanding apologies, and saying Jordain's mother must be confunded."

Solstice frowned. "Sev still goes to visit at Malfoy Manor, doesn't he?"

Lily nodded. "Yes. From the sound of it, Malfoy certainly believes all that Death Eater crap, and Sev's started picking it up too. That's why we were arguing, he called someone a mudblood, and couldn't understand why I didn't like it. He said it was just an expression, and he didn't mean it, but – well, why would he use it if he didn't?"

"Well – maybe he's just doing it because of his father. I mean, he hates his father, and his father's a muggle, so…"

"But it makes no sense. He's not even a pureblood himself."

Solstice shrugged. "None of that pureblood stuff makes any sense.

Outside on the platform, the last of the stragglers were hurrying to take their places on the train. Three of the Marauders were gathered in a bunch, waiting for Sirius to join them. They could see him with his mother and younger brother. Mrs Black seemed to be delivering a lecture, and Sirius's face was flushed with anger. When his mother finished speaking, he stormed away without a backward glance, and Regulus, after dutifully submitting to his mother's embrace, followed, his expression faintly smug.

"You all right, mate?" James asked, his offhand tone masking his concern for his best friend. Sirius snorted, but catching sight of Regulus approaching, he muttered, "Tell you in a minute." He rounded on his brother. "Piss off, you hypocritical little git. Go and suck up to someone who cares!" He snarled. For a moment it looked as if Regulus was going to argue, but he realized that James, Remus and Peter had closed ranks with Sirius, and he shrugged, turning away with a scowl.

Sirius faced his friends again. "My parents have been on my back all summer. Seems they've decided it's time they settled my future."

"They're trying to choose your career?" James asked, but Sirius shook his head, his expression darkening.

"They're trying to get me betrothed to some ugly little French heiress!"

"What? But – you're only fifteen, for Merlin's sake!"

Sirius laughed, a sharp, harsh sound. "Well apparently they've had a betrothal set up since I was a baby. But the girl ran away with a muggle, so that's all off. My loving parents have been prowling the meat markets for some rich little airhead. I told them I'd rather be disowned than agree to the match."

Peter stared at him, wide-eyed. "They wouldn't really disown you for that, would they?"

"You've obviously never met my mother!"

"So what are you going to do?"

For the first time that morning, Sirius grinned. "I reckon my best bet is to work up a reputation that will put off even the most desperate family. You know, get involved in all the things my own parents hate. You should see my room, I got a whole lot of pictures of muggle girls and put them on the wall with a permanent sticking charm. At least that part's gonna be fun!"

Hearing the final whistle for the train, the boys climbed on board and began to look for seats.

As they took their seats in the Great Hall that night, Lily noticed Solstice smiling to herself. As soon as the speeches were finished, and the feast was underway, Lily nudged her friend. "What are you looking so smug about?"

"Me? I'm not smug." She was still smiling, and Lily said, "Go on, obviously something happened. What was it?"

"Well..." Solstice paused tantalizingly, then said, "Darren Covington asked me out."

"Darren - the Ravenclaw prefect? Oh Solstice, he's cute! Loads of girls fancy him."

"Yeah - well he fancies me!" Solstice smirked. This was the first time she'd been asked out by anyone. "We're going for a walk tomorrow afternoon, we've both got free periods after lunch."

Lily consulted her timetable. "And then it's Herbology at three - you can tell me all about it then."

Solstice grinned, helping herself to liver and bacon. Lily shuddered. "I don't know how you can eat that stuff."

"I like it," Solstice told her as she added fried onions and baked beans. "I don't know how you can eat those sickly sweet puddings."

"But how can you not like sweet things? You don't even like chocolate!"

Solstice shrugged. "I don't know. I just never have. But we all get the food we like at the feasts. I don't think there are many plates of liver - and I bet that's the only dish of spinach in the hall," she said, ladling a generous spoonful onto her plate." Lily shook her head, and began to pile chicken and roast potatoes onto her own plate. "You never finished telling me about your trip to France this summer," Solstice said, and Lily plunged into her account of the holiday as the girls began to eat.

Next afternoon, Lily arrived at the greenhouse, full of anticipation. As well as wanting to hear Solstice's account of her walk with Darren, she knew that they had a new herbology professor, and it was always interesting to see what new professors were like. Solstice arrived several minutes late, but fortunately for her, the new teacher hadn't yet arrived. They'd seen her at the feast the night before, of course, and Professor Dumbledore had introduced her as Professor Sprout. She was a small, plump woman, with fluffy fair hair starting to turn grey. She appeared to be quite good-natured, but none of the students had actually spoken to her.

Solstice found a place next to Lily, grinning at her expectant expression, but before she could speak, the new professor came bustling into the greenhouse. "Sorry I'm late," she said. "Spot of bother in the vegetable patch." She threw a couple of round, greyish roots, topped with bushy, dark green leaves, onto the workbench. "The Wildebeets have been trying to migrate. Had to get the groundskeeper to help me round them up, and ask him to reinforce the fence... interesting chap... anyway..."

She looked up at the class of Gryffindors and Slytherins. "I'm Professor Sprout, your new Herbology teacher. I've got some Tumble Burrs for you to plant today. Everyone take a pot and a handful of seeds - that's right. Now, what you need to do is hold a burr firmly in your fingers - pinch the pointed end hard, until the skin bursts and the seed pops out - like so."

She demonstrated, and the rough hairy skin split open, sending a greyish, wrinkled seed rolling onto the table. It squeaked pathetically. Several students shuddered, but Professor Sprout said robustly, "Doesn't hurt them - they just feel a bit cold without their skins. Now - poke a hole in the soil - make sure you put the pointed end of the seed into the ground first - so that you can just see their eyes - and smooth the soil around it. Five seeds per pot, spread out evenly. Off you go."

As the students started their first attempts, Solstice raised her hand. "Professor - what are they grown for?"

"Excellent question. I was wondering when someone would ask. A point to Gryffindor. The are harvested primarily for the skins, which are used in several potions. So be sure to save the skins you take off today!"

Across the table, the Marauders started an impromptu marble match with their burrs, flicking them so that they collided with terrified squeaks. Lily ignored them, and turned to Solstice. "So? How was your date?"

Remus looked up, startled, but the two girls were too engrossed to notice.

"Oh we just walked by the lake - nothing special," Solstice replied, attempting to sound casual and failing completely.

"Is he nice?"

"Oh yes, we talked a lot - well, we did at first, anyway." She grinned, looking at the table and arranging her handful of burrs into a circle."

Lily smirked. "Why only 'at first'?"

"I'm getting to that. So we talked, and after a while, he asked if I minded if he held my hand. So I said I didn't mind." She arranged the burrs into a row, then began to stack them so that their rough coats stuck together. Across the table, Remus skinned his first burr so violently that the seed shot across the greenhouse and bounced off one of the potted sunflowers on the far side. Immediately, the sunflower swung in Remus's direction, and fired a barrage of seeds at him. He yelped, and Professor Sprout looked up.

"Who's bothering the Spitting Sunflowers?"

"Sorry Professor - it was an accident."

"Well be careful. Very sensitive plants, Spitting Sunflowers!"

As Remus crossed to the other side of the greenhouse to find the seed, Solstice went on with her account to Lily. "So we held hands for a while. When we got to the trees, we stopped to look at the lake, and he asked if he could put his arm round me."

"You said yes, didn't you?"

"Of course!"

Behind them, Remus straightened up and cracked his head on the bench he was groveling under. Crawling out from beneath it, he was bombarded once more by the sunflower, backed up by two other sunflowers in nearby pots. The girls glanced at him, barely registering the disturbance, before turning back to their workbench.

"And...?" prompted Lily. Solstice grinned again.

"And what?"

"Did he kiss you?"

"Yeah - he kissed me. And then he did it again."

"Was it all right? I mean, is he a good kisser?"

"Well - not that I've got much to compare with - but I liked it."

Back at his own bench, Remus scowled fiercely at the pile of burrs in front of him. They twittered with alarm and bunched closer together.

At the other end of the greenhouse, there were several loud thuds. The two Wildebeets had fallen off the table, and were attempting to make for the door. Their short, stumpy legs were no match for Professor Sprout, who grabbed them and pitched them into a deep stone sink. "You have to watch the little blighters," she explained. "The urge to migrate is very strong this time of year." She glanced around the greenhouse, and her gaze fell on Solstice and Lily. "Is there a problem over there?"

Solstice looked up. "Umm, no Professor, we're just..."

"Well get to work. You can discuss your dates after class," she told them, making a shrewd guess as to the cause of their inattention. Both girls blushed, and Solstice giggled as they bent over their work.

Solstice picked up a burr and examined it closely. She could just see two tiny black eyes peering at her through the rough coat. She stroked it with one finger, then frowned, holding it close to her ear. She looked up at Lily. "It's purring!" she exclaimed. Lily bent close to it and listened.

"It is!" She held her own burrs to her ear, but could hear nothing. Solstice took one from her, and held it cupped in her palm. After a minute or so, they could both hear the faint hum coming from the burr. By now, the other students had noticed, and were seeing whether their own burrs purred. At the murmur of excitement, Professor Sprout looked in their direction. To forestall any disapproval, Lily raised her hand and said, "Professor Sprout - the burrs are purring when Solstice holds them. But not for anyone else." The professor went over to them, and Solstice held up a burr so that she could listen.

"They only do that when they feel very safe," Professor Sprout told them. She looked up. "Solstice, is it...? Ah yes, Miss Flidae - you're the Elemental, aren't you? That explains it - you've probably already discovered that you have a way with plants - and animals?" Solstice nodded, and Professor Sprout continued, "That's what these chaps are responding to. Carry on. I'll be interested to see how they grow for you."

Solstice held the burr in her fingers, then reluctantly squeezed it as they'd been shown. The coat split and the seed slid out onto her palm. She could feel it trembling, so she quickly poked a hole in the soil and pushed the seed in. It seemed to wriggle a little deeper then, as Solstice smoothed the soil around it, she heard the tiny purr start up again. She smiled and reached for the next one, then paused, looking around on the workbench. "Lily - can you see the rest of my burrs," she said. "I can't find them..."

Lily looked at her in surprise, then giggled and pointed at her friend's arm. The burrs were slowly creeping up Solstice's sleeve - the leader was almost at her shoulder. "They really like you," she said, picking them off with difficulty - they seemed to have tiny hooks at the end of each hair that held onto the fabric - and handing them to her. Solstice finished planting the rest of the seeds, then carefully gathered up the discarded skins as they had been instructed.

Now that they'd caught up their work with the rest of the class, Lily asked, "So - you're going out with Darren again, aren't you?"

"Oh yes. He invited me to sit at the Ravenclaw table with him at dinner this evening. And he's on the Quidditch team, he said that if I meet him at the pitch after their practice, he'll give me a ride on his broom."

Lily stared at her for a moment, then dissolved into giggles. "I've never heard it called that before," she said slyly.

"Haven't heard what called... Lily!" Catching on to her meaning, Solstice took a good-natured swipe at her friend, joining her laughter.

Neither of them noticed Remus, across the table, ramming his last burr - still in its coat - deep into the soil, his expression thunderous. He wasn't quite sure why he was feeling so angry - it wasn't as if he'd been planning to ask Solstice out himself - not really. He was sure he'd never get up enough nerve for that.

A sudden jab in the middle of his back made him look up, startled. He'd been so sunk in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed everyone packing up, and only an elbow in the back from a passing Slytherin had brought him back to reality. He sighed, bundled his belongings together, and followed the rest of the students. As he passed the deep sink at the end of the greenhouse, he noticed that the two Wildebeets were now standing, one on top of the other, trying to climb out. Remus prodded the top one with his wand, and watched with bitter satisfaction as the Wildebeet fell back down with a loud thud and a pathetic squeak.

Remus started to head for the Gryffindor common room, but a shout from James called him back. "Oy! Aren't you coming to watch? You're the one we're doing this for – you and your furry little problem." Remus suddenly remembered that they had planned on heading for their clearing at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Sirius claimed to have perfected his animagus form, and the three other boys were anxious to see if it was true. Feeling a bit more cheerful, Remus followed, listening to Sirius's explanation.

"Of course, there's the Trace, but at home there's always someone doing magic, so they can't tell it's me. I didn't want to hang around with my family, so I spent most of the time in my room, or out of the house, practicing. I managed it in the middle of August, and after I'd done it once, it was much easier to do every time."

They had reached their clearing, and Sirius threw down his schoolbooks and walked to the middle of the space. He grinned at his friends, shook back his hair – he'd let it grow longer over the summer – and then stood still, his gaze on a point in the middle distance. For a few minutes, nothing happened. Then Sirius seemed to melt, flowing down into a dark amorphous mass, that suddenly resolved itself into a huge, black, shaggy dog.

Sirius barked at them, and wagged his tail, then sat down and scratched behind his ear with a hind leg. His tail thumped on the ground, then the transformation ran in reverse, and he changed back to human form. His friends stared at him for a moment, awed. Then James let out a whoop. "One down, two to go! I think I'm almost there – I definitely changed into something last time I tried. Though it didn't seem quite right – things looked really weird."

"Well, try it now," Sirius urged. "With a dog and a panther, we should be able to keep Remus under control."

Remus grinned. "Good luck! Last full moon, I chewed through a six inch thick oak door." Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration - but not much.

"Yeah, well we'll have a bear soon, too. How're you doing with yours, Peter?" James asked.

Peter looked hopeful. "I think I'm nearly there – it won't be long." He remembered, uncomfortably, his last attempt. The strange, squeezing sensation had been almost suffocating and he'd lacked the courage to continue. But he'd definitely been on the point of changing, and if he tried it with the other boys watching, he was sure he'd be able to go through with it, if only to avoid the humiliation of chickening out in front of them.

"Well, keep working on it. You don't want to be the only one who can't do it," James said, switching spots with Sirius. He stood silently, letting his mind fill with thoughts of a lean, dangerous panther.

It felt like he was being twisted in one of those muggle kaleidoscope toys – disconcerting, but not exactly painful. Then he was there – four paws, a tail – he could feel that he had everything. But once again, it all looked distorted, like he was seeing things from too far away. Maybe it was just a question of getting used to animal perceptions. He looked up at his friends, and attempted a menacing roar. Even with his disorienting vision, he could tell they were staring open-mouthed.

"What?" he tried to say, annoyed. Well, now it almost looked as if they were laughing at him. Irritation surged.

Remus, Sirius and Peter just stared, not quite believing it, and unable to contain their mirth. The tiny, fluffy, black kitten advanced on them, hissing angrily, and Remus had to lean against a tree for support, he was laughing so much. The kitten's stubby tail lashed angrily, then it seemed to explode back into the shape of a boy.

"I don't see what's so damn funny," he snarled at them. "I had everything I was supposed to!"

Sirius gulped, finally fighting back the laughter long enough to say, "Yeah, you had everything – it's just a question of scale!"

"What? What's scale got to do with it?" James demanded.

Still leaning against the tree, Remus said, "Everything! It's the difference between a panther and a cute, fuzzy kitten!"

"What? I changed into a kitten?" He was outraged.

"A cute kitten," Peter reminded him.

James shot him an infuriated glare, but Sirius said, "Oh, come off it, mate, you'd have laughed your head off if I'd changed into a puppy."

James shrugged, and grinned unwillingly. "Yeah, well… I thought everything looked weird – like everything was too big." He sat down on the fallen tree, frowning. "I dunno – maybe I'm just trying for the wrong animal. Trouble is, I don't know what would work better. I really thought a panther would be good…"

"Had any more luck with the corporeal patronus?" Remus asked. He was convinced that if James could manage that, he'd know what animal he was supposed to be.

James nodded. "Yeah, I can do a non-corporeal patronus now – and it looked a bit like an animal last time. Dunno what it was, though…" The sound of girls' voices near the clearing made them all look up. James grinned. "Sounds like Evans," he said.

Sirius met his gaze, his grey eyes sparkling wickedly. "Wanna have some fun?" he asked, knowing exactly what the answer would be.

Lily and Solstice, along with several other Gryffindor girls, were strolling along the edge of the trees, talking idly, when James, Remus and Peter emerged. Lily rolled her eyes at Solstice, but before she could say anything, a large black dog came galloping out of the woods. It ran up to the girls, then lowered its head, crouching, its tail waving madly, and its mouth open, panting. It was clear dog language for 'let's play'. Several of the girls exclaimed with delight. "Is that your dog, Potter? Isn't he sweet!"

The dog trotted up to them, plainly overjoyed to make friends, wagging his tail as the girls patted him and rubbed his ears. Smiling, forgetting for the moment that she thought James was an obnoxious prat, Lily crouched down to pet the dog. Sirius promptly rolled over onto his back, all four legs pedaling in the air.

"Nice doggy! Good boy!" she said, scratching the dog's chest while it wriggled ecstatically. She glanced up and noticed the three boys exchanging smirks. Laughing at the way she talked to the dog, she thought indignantly.

Solstice was watching with a grin. "What's his name?" she asked.

James looked momentarily floored, then said, "Snuffles! His name is Snuffles." Abruptly the dog leapt to its feet and barked angrily at James. It turned and trotted towards Solstice, its tail wagging again. She smiled and bent to pat his head. As soon as her hand touched the dog, Solstice froze.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked.

Solstice straightened up, looking bewildered. "I don't know, it just – something doesn't feel right – about the dog."

Sirius laid down, put his muzzle on his paws, and gazed up at Solstice mournfully. Lily laughed. "Look, you hurt his feelings."

Solstice grinned and knelt down so she could pat the dog again, but once more she had a sense of – what? It was just a dog, but when she touched it, the feeling she got from it was much too complex for an ordinary dog. Sirius stood up – now his eyes were on a level with Solstice's. He cocked his head to one side, then suddenly licked her face lavishly before bounding away, barking and gamboling round the other students.

Peter, James and Remus roared with laughter, as Solstice wiped her face on her sleeve. She looked at the three boys, a little surprised by the extent of their mirth. "It's not that funny," she said. "A bit of dog slobber doesn't bother me." She stood up, looking at them, and it suddenly occurred to her that someone was missing. "Don't tell me Black's in detention already! The term's hardly started."

James shrugged, grinning. "Yeah, well – you know Sirius."

Solstice nodded. "You lot will have to start working if you want to get any OWLs this year," she remarked.

Lily laughed derisively. "Potter – work? That'll be the day!" She picked up her schoolbag from the grass. "Speaking of which, we should make a start on our homework," she said, glancing at Solstice who nodded. The girls began to walk back towards the castle, and James stood for several minutes, watching Lily.

"I think Evans is starting to come around. Notice it was my name she said…"

"Yeah – but whose chest was she scratching?" Sirius remarked, grinning, as he resumed human form.

"Huh! She thought you were a dog, that's all!"

"Solstice didn't," Remus said suddenly. "She knew something wasn't right."

"Yeah, what was that about?" Sirius demanded, looking puzzled.

Remus shook his head, frowning slightly. "I dunno – remember how those burrs liked her in Herbology? Elementals have a way with animals…"

Sirius smirked. "From what I hear, that's not all they have a way with, if you know what I mean," he said with a leer.

For a split second, Remus's eyes blazed with an almost inhuman rage, before he turned away. "I've got homework to do," he muttered, and set off back to school.

Sirius looked at James, baffled, but James grinned, put a hand over his heart, and sighed theatrically. Sirius looked disbelieving for a moment, then laughed, but he kept his voice low as he said, grinning, "Yeah – I suppose even werewolves fall in love!"