The Adventure of a Marauder

By imafeckingstarr

Summary: Melissa Lopez is an average girl, with average grades and an average life. That is, until a replica of Tom Riddle's diary in the London Harry Potter exhibit transports her back in time with no way of her returning to her original time – not that she minds. Melissa has the chance to change the future, but will it be for the better?

A/N: I'm finally back to writing fanfic. I've had some time off as I've needed this break, plus, I had kind of forgotten where I was actually going with this, whoops. Anyway, I'm sorry for the super long wait, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

'JUST GONNA WING IT'

The next few days went by normally. Well, as normal as things could be. Lily, after realising that the Amortentia potion was working and that they'd brewed it correctly, shut herself in our dorm for the rest of the night, closing the curtains around her four-poster bed, ignoring everyone and pretending to be asleep. She didn't want to talk about it, and I didn't want to press her on it. Maybe she was in shock. Or denial. Whatever it was, she didn't want to open up about it, and I wasn't one to pry.

I was running late on a cold, Thursday morning, having overslept due to constant nightmares about Voldemort – shocker – and late-night study sessions. I practically fell down the stairs as I rushed to make it to the Great Hall on time to actually eat breakfast. As I made it to the Gryffindor table, I noticed Lily was still sitting there, meticulously pulling apart a bagel with her forefinger and thumb, staring blankly at the wall ahead of her. I flopped down on the seat next to her, grabbed some toast quickly and poured us both goblets of pumpkin juice, which she smiled and nodded at me gratefully. I was slathering my toast with butter and strawberry jam when Lily finally spoke to me.

"The potion was wrong."

"Hm?" I said, taking a huge bite out of my breakfast.

"The Amortentia. The one we brewed. It was wrong." Lily replied, matter-of-factly.

I sighed loudly, "Lily, you know that's not true."

"It's the only logical explanation."

"No, it isn't. The potion wouldn't have given off any smell if it hadn't of worked, hell, it might have obliterated the entire classroom. You and James are both very bright people, there was no way that you would have brewed that potion wrong."

"Mel. The potion. Was. Wrong." Lily said sternly, emphasising each word slowly.

I rolled my eyes, drank deeply from my goblet, and looked her dead in the eye once I was finished. "No Lily, it wasn't. And you know it wasn't. Besides, I don't see what's wrong with being in love with him. He's a nice guy. A very nice guy, in fact. He's incredibly good looking and he completely and utterly dotes on you, and has done since day one. And he will probably dote on you until the day he dies."

'No foreshadowing there or anything Mel, well done you ponce.'

Lily looked at me as if I had grown horns, sprouted a spiky red tail and began proclaiming the works of the devil. I sipped from my pumpkin juice as she began to splutter and stutter, trying to find a way to grasp hold of the situation, to change its course like you would lava from a volcano.

"It goes against the laws of nature to be in love with him Mel!" Lily cried finally, dropping the shredded bits of bagel onto the plate in front of her. "And there is no way in hell that he is in love with me. We're still children! Love doesn't happen so young, it's just a childish infatuation."

"How do you know it isn't love?" I asked, finishing off the rest of my toast and pouring myself another drink.

"I just do." Lily answered, with such determination and finality that I couldn't help but roll my eyes again. How was I going to tell her that destiny, or fate, or whatever you wanted to call it was a thing and it just happens? I was just going to have to wing it.

"Love happens. It doesn't matter how old you are, or the time of year it is, or even the situation you're in. Love just happens. It hits you square in the face like a stinging hex, and continues to give you horrible stinging pains in your chest for the rest of your life. Because that is how love works, Lily. There is no law and there is no guide. It just happens. So, you may not love him now, but I can guarantee, potion or no potion, that you will fall in love with him in the end."

"How? How can you guarantee that?" Lily scoffed, folding her arms across her chest stubbornly.

I grinned at her, "I just can."

I don't think she liked that, because just as I was about to finish the last of my pumpkin juice, she threw a piece of shredded bagel at me. I just shrugged, there was nothing else I could do now. I'd said my piece. Whether she wanted to stay in denial or not was up to her.

"Now," I said, putting my goblet back down on to the table, "Let's get to Charms before Flitwick goes completely bonkers."

Lily didn't say anything to me as we made our way to Charms, nor did she say anything to me throughout the lesson. She left me to sit next to Regulus and ignored me the best she could, even as I threw little pieces of parchment her head in a miserable attempt to get her attention. Flitwick was so occupied with explaining the lesson (it was on cushioning charms) that he didn't realise – or chose to ignore – the fact that there were little parchment balls being aimed at another student's head.

Every time I missed, or just about succeeded at throwing a little parchment ball at her head, I could hear little chuckles around me. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Regulus' shoulders bobbing up and down slightly as he tried to supress his laughter. I was doing my best to ignore him. I didn't want to upset Sirius anymore, and I knew my being friends with his brother was bothering him deeply.

I knew I shouldn't let that affect my friendship – after all, since when did Sirius ever have a say with who (or what) I was friends with? But I was tired of the arguing, so I had decided that keeping Regulus at a distance was a good idea. I could still see him from the corner of my eye every time I attempted to get Lily's attention, his dark locks waving around his face as he snorted at my failure. I hated that I couldn't be friends with both of them, hated that neither of them could put their petty differences aside, hated that I had to choose one brother over the other.

"Why're you doing that?" Regulus asked me finally.

"Hm?"

"That," He gestured as I turned my head to face him, throwing another bit of parchment aimlessly, "Why're you doing it?"

"Oh," I responded. I turned to face Lily, who was still ignoring me, "I'm trying to get her attention."

"Why? She clearly doesn't want to talk to you."

I could hear the smirk in his voice. I rolled my eyes, and chose to ignore him, still throwing little parchment balls in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, I would annoy Lily enough for her to at least turn around and glare at me.

However, I was having no such luck.

Her tolerance to extreme childish behaviour was incredibly high.

Regulus continued to try and talk to me, and I continued to ignore him, until something sharp stabbed me.

"Ow, what the hell?" I cried, rubbing the throbbing part of my upper arm. I turned to face Regulus, who was rotating his quill between his fingers, an innocent look plastered across his face.

"You were ignoring me."

"For good reason," I snapped, still rubbing my arm, "Merlin, did you have to stab me?"

"Lighten up Mel, it wasn't that hard." Regulus snorted.

"It bloody well hurt you git."

"It was just my quill, can't have hurt that much."

"Can't hurt that much? Let me stab you in the bloody arm with a quill, see how you like it." I huffed, grabbing a spare, unused quill from my bag quickly.

"You won't reach me before I stop you." Regulus taunted, a sly smile tugging at his lips.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

He was testing me, playing me, trying to get me to rise to the bait. He was throwing little hints here and there like no tomorrow. He was taunting me, and I was giving in. I desperately wanted to be his friend, just like I wanted to stay friends with Sirius, and James, and Lily. But I knew I couldn't have it both ways.

And yet, I wanted it.

Without a second thought, I quickly slid across to Regulus' side of the table and went to jab him in his arm, no-one was really paying attention to us as they focused on mastering the spell before them, or at least trying to grasp the basic idea of it, it was the perfect opportunity to strike. It happened so quickly, but before I knew it, I was lying across Regulus attempting to stab him back, smirk plastered across my face as I managed to do it successfully (after one too many failed attempts).

Regulus looked down at me pointedly, a look of mock annoyance across his face. It took me a moment or two to realise that I was lying in his lap, the reality of the situation smacking me like a tidal wave. We were in the middle of class. We were supposed to be practicing cushioning charms, not stabbing each other with the tips of our quills. I could feel the shock give into pure embarrassment as I sat up quickly, the heat rising to my cheeks.

I could feel my face burning.

Why did I do this to myself?

Why did I do stupid things and get myself into stupid situations?

"Mel?"

I looked over at Regulus slowly, a frown replacing the smirk that once graced his face.

"Is everything okay?"

All I could do was nod quickly as I slid back into my seat.

"Everything's fine," I squeaked, my voice betraying how un-fine everything really was, "we need to be practicing this spell, remember?"

He narrowed his eyes at me, and I had to look away, "Are you sure?"

"I said everything was fine, can we concentrate on the spell, please?"

I couldn't look at him. I wouldn't. I was afraid that if I looked at him, my face would give away how I felt, that it would show how much I wanted to be his friend.

"Sure Lopez, whatever you say."

Wow, I am so unbelievably sorry that it has taken me what seems like a million years to update this story!

Honestly? I lost all motivation to continue with it. But I wanted to get back into writing, and what better way to do that than fanfic?

I read through the previous chapters so I could figure out where I was at with this, and I think I know where I'm going again. I'm aware that Sirius said previously that he was fine with Mel and Regulus being friends, but we all know that was a blatant lie. I wanted to explore that a little in this chapter. I hope that came across well!

Anyway, enough of my babbling.

I swear, the next update won't take as long!

Let me know what you think.

muchlove,
imafeckingstarr xxx