"Did you make any friends on the train ride?" Sirius asked, looking whimsical.

Remus gave him a knowing look

"He met James on that first train ride," Remus explained with a smile.

"You make friends for life on that train," Sirius said emphatically.

"Did you come across those friends of yours that you made mischief with at Ministry events?" Remus asked curiously, remembering one of my earlier tales.

"Sort of..." I replied hesitantly.

"What happened?" Remus asked tiredly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

I folded my arms and pouted, "You have to remember that I didn't see a lot of my friends for a while!"

"Oh, this should be good," said Sirius eagerly.


1st September 1984

Dora brought her hand back into the carriage as her parents became tiny dots in the distance. She was off! Next stop, Hogwarts! She slipped into the compartment where her dad had put her trunk, there was no way she could heft that up. She couldn't morph her muscles yet.

She was just about to close the door when she heard, "Dorrie? I mean, Dora? Dora Tonks?"

That voice sounded familiar...

"Samantha Burns?" Dora greeted hesitantly.

The blonde-haired girl grinned broadly.

"You haven't forgotten," she teased.

"No," Dora replied softly, unsure what to do.

They hadn't seen each other in over a year, after the whole Halloween incident Samantha's mother did not approve of the Tonks'. Silence stretched awkwardly between them. A couple of older Ravenclaws barged past, knocking Samantha into her.

"Watch where you're going, firstie! " one of the boys called back.

"Watch yourself," Dora couldn't help but retort to their rapidly retreating backs, not caring about a couple of first years.

"Still causing trouble, I see," came another familiar voice.

"James!" The two girls chorused in unison.

"Oh hush," Dora said to a now eleven-year-old James Abbot and pulled a face at him.

"You got a carriage?" Dora asked him, noticing that, unlike Samantha, he didn't have his trunk.

"Yeah, some fourth year Hufflepuffs took pity on me," he replied.

"Do you want to join us?" She asked, waving between her and Samantha.

Samantha gave her an incredulous look.

"Really?" She asked hopefully.

Dora shrugged and replied, "Sure, why not?"

"I haven't been a really good friend."

"Not your fault and you wrote letters."

Samantha flung herself at Dora and encompassed her in one of her signature bear hugs.

"Oh, thank Merlin!" She gasped out. "I was so worried you'd hate me."

"Never," Dora said emphatically.

"Well, coughed James, looking incredibly awkward. "I'd love to. I don't know how I'm going to get my trunk down but I'll be right back."

"I got Jonathan to put a featherlight charm on mine," Samantha informed him, referring to her thirteen-year-old cousin as she effortlessly lifted her own trunk into the overhead rack. "Ask those Hufflepuffs you were talking about. Jon said they're normally happy to help."

James slapped his forehead disgusted at his own stupidity.

"Honestly, why didn't I think of that?" He said exasperatedly and started walking down the corridor. "I really will be right back."

Dora and Samantha rolled their eyes at each other.

"Boys," said Dora.

"He is not going to be a Ravenclaw," Samantha stated.

"I dunno," Dora said thoughtfully, sliding the door shut behind them. "My mum always says Ravenclaws tend to lack even the most basic common sense. That could just be her talking about my dad though."

Samantha snickered.

"He'd fit right in, then."

"Who'd fit in where?" James asked, bursting through the door in triumph and swinging his trunk in.

Dora just shook her head and tried to stifle a giggle.

"Nothing," Samantha said innocently.

James gave the girls a suspicious look but they just smiled at him. Shrugging his shoulders, he flung himself next to Dora after putting his trunk up.

"So, how's everyone been doing?" He asked. "We haven't been together in ages. You-" he pointed at Samantha, "-haven't been at the last two balls. It's an outrage I tell you."

Samantha blushed and looked uncomfortable.

"Mum and Dad decided it wasn't 'appropriate' for me to attend anymore."

"Pity, me and Dora were completely outnumbered since your cousin decided that he was too mature to associate with mere children anymore."

"I'm sure you were fine," Samantha dismissed, thinking they were just trying to make her feel better.

"The snobs nearly tied us up," Dora retorted in an outraged tone.

"It's a good thing you learned how to morph your skin to scales or they really would have got us," agreed James.

"You can morph scales now?" Samantha asked excitedly.

Dora grinned at her. Samantha had never made her feel like a freak. She just really liked to suggest things to for Dora to morph. Andromeda hadn't quite forgiven Samantha for suggesting to create a third eye... that was an interesting trip to St. Mungo's.

"Only patches of skin on my arms," Dora replied, waving said appendages. "And only 'cause I've been studying reptiles."

"Because of Hokey?"

"Yep."

"Where is Hokey, by the way?" James asked her, peering around the carriage as if the moke was going to pop out.

"At home, he's not on the list of approved pets and mum wrote to a professor and they said they wouldn't even consider making an exception for a moke until I was at least thirteen and proved to be responsible," Dora explained.

"Aww," her friends chorused.

"At least you've seen him," Samantha said to James. "I've only seen blurry photographs."

"He's fast!" Dora defended.

The three friends burst into laughter, the noise filling the compartment.


"I'm glad you were reunited with a friend," said Remus.

I nodded, "It was great. She's my best friend."

"You can morph scales?" Sirius blurted out.

"Yeah, quite easily too," I told him eagerly. "Want to see."

"Please!"

I pushed up the sleeve of my shirt to display the green scale I had morphed all along my forearm. They glinted in the light. Not expecting the scales to already be there, Sirius yelped in a very dog like manor and fell off the bed.

Remus snickered into his hand. Sirius popped up with a glare and looked at my arm in awe

"That's wicked," he informed me.

"Look what else I can do with them," I said and shifted the scales so there was a wavy line of gold scales waving down the green.

Sirius reached his hand out and asked, "Can I?"

"Go ahead," I replied, amused as Sirius hesitantly ran his fingers along the scales.

"I'm surprised you can do non-human features," Remus commented, looking fascinated.

"Only if I study the animal I want to mimic and only their outer features," I explained. "Can take a bit of work."

"Fascinating."

This was new. Most people either wanted me to perform for then or were disgusted. It was nice just to be accepted.

AN: Remember, reviews get previews of the next chapter. And if you want to read about where Dora's parents would think she would end up and the hilarity that ensues, please check out my (going to be) a two/three shot 'Falling Into Place'.