Chapter 21 – Lily P.O.V.

After a long, and eventful Easter break, we were back at Hogwarts. I was sad to leave our new home, but the thought of returning to my home-away-from-home was inviting. I was excited to be back at Hogwarts, to walk through its halls, partake in the classes, play Quidditch.

"Ah, it's good to be back!" Sirius exclaimed as we entered the common room. He left his stuff by the staircase and collapsed on his favorite couch by the fire. We all chuckled fondly.

"Didn't know you were so excited to get back to school," Remus teased, sitting on the arm chair opposite Sirius.

Sirius sat up and pointed his index finger at him in a correcting manner. "No, Moony, that's where you're wrong. We're not just back at school, we're back at Hogwarts. Big difference."

Remus chuckled and put his hands up in defense. "Oh, I'm ever so sorry for such a mistake. I apologize if it has somehow insulted your being," he said sarcastically.

Sirius sniffed and nodded curtly, as if this was the proper answer. My brother, ladies and gents.

We all turned at the sound of the portrait moving. There, standing at the entrance to the common room, was Dumbledore and McGonagall. But they weren't alone. Next to them stood three people – two boys and one girl. They seemed to be triplets.

"Good morning, all," Dumbledore said politely, a smile on his face. We all smiled and waved to them.

"Now, I'm sure you're all wondering why myself and Professor McGonagall are here. We are asking you lot, particularly our Prefects and Quidditch captain," Dumbledore looked at Remus, James and I, "to show these three around the school and help them in any way you can. Make them comfortable, be a friend."

Professor McGonagall stepped forward, gesturing for the three siblings to stand before her. "These are the Kavanagh triplets. They have been homeschooled by their parents in Ireland, until now. They have been sorted into Gryffindor and are fifth years just like yourselves. I'll let them introduce themselves to you."

One stepped forward towards me, a handsome boy with casually messy light blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He was slightly shorter than Sirius and Remus, but still taller than me. Wow, he was good looking He flashed me a charming smile. I couldn't help but blush and smile back. He was very good looking. "Hello, Niall Kavanagh, at your service, beautiful," he took my hand and placed a light kiss on my knuckle.

I blushed even more. "H-Hi, I'm Lily Evans, Gryffindor Prefect," I replied, smiling shyly back at him.

I sighed inwardly at his accent. I know that must sound weird coming from me, a British girl with a British accent, but really? His Irish accent is adorable! It's just like American girls swooning over British accents. I could listen to Niall talk for hours..

"Lily," he repeated. Ah, that voice! "Beautiful name for a beautiful girl." He winked.

I giggled. Sirius cleared his throat and sent me an irritated look.

"Oh right! Well this is Sirius, my brother," I gestured to him. Sirius simply nodded and kept his steely glare on him.

"I'm Remus Lupin, also a Gryffindor Prefect." Remus smiled warmly at the three siblings, not very discretely elbowing Sirius in the side.

James stepped forward, seeming slightly upset at something. "James Potter, Gryffindor Quidditch captain," he waved at the triplets. The girl blushed and giggled.

"I'm Aislinn Kavanagh, pleasure to meet you!" she skipped up and smiled brightly. James politely shook the hand she extended to him. I stifled a laugh. James looked rather uncomfortable.

Aislinn was a pretty girl with brown hair that seemed to have natural red highlights that was slightly wavy and reached just past her shoulder blades. She had the same blue eyes as both her brothers. She was petite, just an inch or two shorter than Alice. With her rosy cheeks, little button nose, and gentle features, she looked younger than fifteen. Almost as if she was a child doll modeling the Hogwarts uniform. But somehow, she made it work for her.

"Hello all! My name is Alice Prynn and this is my boyfriend, Frank Longbottom," Alice piped up, introducing both herself and Frank, who approached her as soon as we entered the common room.

"Hi, I'm Thalia," Lia stepped forward. Niall's brother walked up to her.

"Hello gorgeous, I'm Declan Cole Kavanagh. Keep that in mine when we're signing the marriage papers, love," Declan said smoothly, throwing Lia a winning smile.

She blushed an intense shade of red. "I-It's nice to meet you, Declan Cole Kavanagh. I'm Thalia Brielle Jones," Thalia said, trying to sound nonchalant and unaffected by Declan's obvious firting towards her.

Declan looked almost exactly like Niall, but his hair was brown instead of blond. He also appeared to be a bit taller than his brother. There were minor differences in their facial details, but they looked very similar. If it wasn't for the hair color difference, I would have thought they looked almost exactly alike.

I turned away from the two who were actively flirting with each other and looked at Niall. His light blonde hair stood up in various places. As if he had run his hand through his hair a couple times. I smiled, he reminded me of James.

I shook my head, clearing my mind of the thought.

Niall was really very handsome, I couldn't stop looking at his eyes. They were this bright, clear shade of blue. It was almost as if they were a transparent window to his soul. I felt as if I could tell exactly how he was feeling just by looking at them. I found myself thinking how different they were from James' hazel eyes. James' eyes were quite interesting. I have seen his eyes in every color except blue. They have been brown, black, gray, gold, green, but never blue. His eyes seemed to change colors with the light and how he was feeling, yet, I could never quite pinpoint what was going on through his mind..

I stopped myself. Why was I thinking about James? Of all people, the thought of beautiful eyes and adorably messy hair brought James Potter to mind.

Why?

This chapter introduces some new people to Hogwarts. What do you think of them? They will be in the next few chapters, at the very least. They do have an actual reason to be added into the story at this point. Not sure how long I'll keep them as part of the plot, but let me know if you like them! If you do, I'll keep them around longer!