Poppy's POV

I spent the rest of my night on my bed working, nobody coming up until about 9 when I saw Lily and Alice appear, both of them telling me I should have come to the library with them to work. I had told them about having dinner with Luke and they both seemed far more interested in that, asking me lots of questions about him which I had to say I was kind of used to; we may be like family but I could acknowledge that he was a good looking guy.

The next morning, I woke up at my usual time and was surprised to see Lily still in bed. I hesitated before getting ready, thinking she would probably be up by the time I was out but to my surprise she wasn't. I was unsure whether I should leave her or not; she had told me quite clearly; she was glad to have somebody up the same time as her, so this would be unusual for her. But, at the same time, I didn't want to disturb her sleep. In the end I left her and crept quietly out of the dormitory, thinking Remus would probably be up. I felt relieved when I saw him come into sight but almost stopped when I saw him stood with Sirius, the pair of them looking at me as I came closer.

"Morning" Remus greeted me happily, as though nothing was unusual.

"Morning" I replied hesitantly, wondering what was going on this morning.

"Morning" Sirius said to me and I found my eyes wandering over to him, seeing his light grey eyes twinkling somewhat cheekily.

"Morning" I said to him, feeling myself smiling although I wasn't quite sure why.

"Lily not with you today?" Remus asked casually and I turned back to him, shaking my head. He seemed surprised before he shook it. "Shall we go down to breakfast then?" he asked now, and I nodded, leading the way as he gestured me forward. I hesitated before making my way out and I thought I could hear faint mutterings behind me, but they ceased when we were out and on the way down to breakfast.

"So, how are you finding everything here?" Sirius engaged me in conversation as we made our way, taking me by surprise a little admittedly. I feel like this may have showed as he grinned at me and I averted my eyes quickly, composing myself.

"It's good thank you" I replied politely. "I'm enjoying being here" I told him, seeing him smile broadly at this.

"Is it very different from your other school?" he continued and, what's more, I found myself happily replying to him, talking about Beauxbatons and my life in France which took us all the way to the Great Hall. Once we made it there, Remus stopped walking, hitting himself on the head.

"Merlin I'm such an idiot! I've completely forgotten my Charms book! I'd best go get it. I'll be back in a bit" he told us and with a quick smile he disappeared back up the stairs. I turned to Sirius who didn't seem surprised by this, instead he just motioned for me to join him and we made our way into the Great Hall, sitting about halfway down.

"So, quidditch try outs are this weekend" Sirius told me as I added some fresh fruit to my porridge and I looked up, pulling a face which made him laugh. "Not going to try out?" he asked with a grin and I shook my head.

"Not really my thing" I replied, seeing his grin not budge as he piled his plate with an extraordinary amount of food. "Do you play?" I asked in return as I started eating, seeing him grab two mugs and start to pour some tea as he nodded.

"Been on the team since third year. I play chaser" he told me, pushing a tea towards me with a smile.

"Thanks" I said with a smile, seeing a crooked one appear on his face which had me blushing for some reason.

"No problem. So yeah, I'm a chaser with Fiona, Remus is a beater and James is seeker" he informed me, and I nodded as I added a sugar and a dash of milk to my tea.

"Who's the captain?" I asked as Sirius now started to make a dent in his pile of breakfast food.

"Alex Camberwell. Year above us" he told me between mouthfuls, surprisingly polite which I suspect he knew I was thinking, judging by his grin. "People usually come and watch try outs, do you want to come?" he asked me, surprising me a little. I considered it for a moment, seeing how closely he was watching me.

"Sure" I found myself saying with a nod, seeing him smile widely.

"Great! It'll be good" he told me before turning his attention back to his food and I found myself wondering why it was that I felt so comfortable around Sirius Black.

The rest of the day flew by and indeed, the rest of the week and by Friday night I was feeling shattered after my first full week at Hogwarts. Everything seemed to be going well and I felt like I was finding my feet a bit more. Thankfully, only the Gryffindors knew about my changing eye colour but I did feel it was just a matter of time before other people cottoned on to what was going on. I had been to the library with Will Masters Thursday after Runes and although the girls seemed to find this utterly thrilling, I noticed that the guys didn't have quite the same opinion. Indeed, when I had joined everybody at dinner, I had noticed their glances towards the Ravenclaw table whilst they muttered between themselves. I shook it off, thinking I was probably just missing something about Hogwarts life.

Friday night Lily, Fiona, Alice and I lounged in the common room and I had to admit it was quite nice to just hang out with them and, as they had been doing all week, effortlessly included me in their conversations. I felt happier than I had in a long time at school as a result of this, starting to hope more frequently now that things were on the up.

On the Saturday I woke up at my standard time, hoping and praying Lily wouldn't be awake. I felt a weight at the end of my bed and, on opening my eyes, saw the pile of presents I had been expecting; today was my 17th birthday. I wasn't a big fan of birthday's, the memory of my parents still too painful to properly enjoy celebrations. As such, I hadn't informed anybody and wanted the day to be as normal as possible. I grabbed my wand from the side, drawing my hangings around me and putting up a silencing charm before beginning to open them, finding that in spite of the sadness I was carrying around, I seemingly couldn't stop the smile. As it was a big birthday, my presents were a little more…expensive than usual but the one that had floored me the most had been from Sara and Phil. It was a small package and it had contained a necklace that had been my mums which had made me burst into tears, as I felt thankful that I had put up silencing charms. I had recognised it instantly, seeing the star surrounded by a circle of vines on the fine chain. Sara had written to tell me that now that I was 17 it was mine to have and that this was the age it would have been passed down to me, symbolising my magical coming of age. When I put it on, it glowed faintly, and I felt as though I had a piece of mum with me which made me happy, noticing that this made the necklace glow a little brighter. I made a note to keep it hidden at all times, thinking it would be difficult to explain a glowing necklace and tucked it under my pyjamas as I opened the rest of my presents, feeling a little happier than I had when I started. I had some new books, clothes and more jewellery amongst other stuff as well as a huge photo album which Sara, Phil, Sienna and Max had put together for me which had made me smile. After I was done, I quietly put everything away feeling thankful that Lily apparently enjoyed a weekend lie in before I went and had a shower and washed my hair. I took my time, hoping the hot water would make my eyes look less red and puffy from crying. I quietly got dressed when I was out, putting on a pair of jeans and one of my new jumpers before charming my hair dry, grabbing some books and heading downstairs. Unsurprisingly, the common room was deserted given that it was still only 7.30 on a Saturday and I resolved to try and get to breakfast by myself seeing as nobody else was around. I focused hard and was pleasantly surprised when I found myself by the marble staircase which headed down to the Great Hall. Feeling pleased with myself I found a seat at the empty Gryffindor table, noting that there were only a handful of other students down and all were seated at the Ravenclaw table. I opened my transfiguration book whilst I waited for breakfast to appear, helping myself to some porridge when it did and losing myself in theory.

"Morning" Lily's voice pulled me from my reading about half an hour later, sitting herself down opposite me with a smile which I returned, hurriedly shutting my book. "Weekend early riser as well huh?" she asked as she helped herself to breakfast and I blushed a little as I nodded. "And the others all call me strange for getting up at half seven at the weekends" she told me with a laugh as I helped myself to a cup of tea.

"Ingrained habit" I said simply, hoping the others wouldn't say anything. "Do you want a tea?" I offered her, thinking it only polite, seeing her nod in reply as I made her one, adding two sugars and a significant amount of milk.

"Good memory, I'm impressed" she said with a smile as I pushed it to her, and I shrugged as I made up my own one. "So, what do you want to do today?" she asked me as she started eating.

"Oh, well I uh, said I'd go and watch the Gryffindor quidditch try outs" I admitted, seeing her raise her eyebrows and look intrigued.

"Cool, sounds good" was what she actually said, making me relax a little. "Fiona will be pleased. Any excuse to show off" she told me with a grin, and I laughed a little at this. "Do you not play?" she asked, and I quickly shook my head, making her laugh.

"I prefer keeping my feet on the ground" I told her, and she smiled widely.

"Same. I don't understand it in all honesty" she replied, making me smile.

"Me either" I replied, and she laughed.

"Honestly Poppy, I can't tell you how nice it is to have you here" she said, making me blush a little as she continued to eat.

We made general chitchat about work and stuff as the morning wound on, eventually being joined by the rest of the girls and the Marauders (much to Lily's annoyance). It wasn't until half eight when I caught sight of somebody looking like they were walking with purpose towards us and, looking up, saw that it was Luke and he had a huge smile on his face. My eyes widened as I realised what was about to happen and I saw his expression change, looking puzzled. I gave a slight shake of my head, hoping he understood before he came to a stop opposite me and I saw everybody turn to look at him.

"Morning Pop" he greeted me with a casual smile, and I saw his eyes scan around everybody else. The girls were all staring at him, wide eyed looking pleasantly surprised whereas the guys looked at him warily.

"Morning" I replied cautiously, and I saw him roll his eyes. I pulled a face at him and he sighed, running a hand through his hair looking as though he were thinking things through.

"Seriously not told them?" he ventured in French and I heard an intake of breath from the girls and felt everybody's eyes on me. I shook my head in response, seeing him raise his eyebrows at me. "Why not?" he questioned, evidently goading me into speech. I sighed and did my best to avoid looking at anybody.

"Because you know I don't care enough" I replied quietly, seeing him smirk at me and I scowled in return, making him laugh.

"Well happy birthday anyway. Will you have dinner with me tonight?" he asked, and I nodded, seeing him smile. "I'll see you later then, have a good day" he returned easily to English and, giving me a quick wink, he turned around and disappeared.

"Oh my life. Merlin he's so hot I can't cope" Susan's voice brought me back to the present and I saw all the girls were watching Luke walk away. I glanced at the guys to see that they were all staring at me and I blushed, averting my eyes and looking at my mug instead.

"How is he even hotter when he speaks French?" I heard Lily say and looked back up to see that they were all hurriedly turning back around.

"Oh come on, he's not that good looking" I heard James scoff and all of the girls looked at him with matching grins.

"Are you kidding? He's easily the hottest guy in school" Fiona told him, and I looked at James to see him roll his eyes and shake his head.

"Anyway, how come you spoke to him in French?" James asked curiously and I knew everybody was looking at me at this point.

"Uh, just family stuff" I told him evasively, lying and so trying not to look at anybody as purple was a very hard colour to explain away. Thankfully, the morning post arrived and caused a much-needed diversion and when I looked back up, I noticed that everybody was looking up in anticipation. I was surprised when Ares landed in front of me and I couldn't help but smile as I gave him a stroke, seeing him close his eyes in apparent happiness. When I stopped, he nudged my hand again, making me laugh as I stroked him whilst undoing the package attached to his leg, knowing what it was going to be. Once this was done, he gave me a gentle nip before flying off again and I turned it over in my hands, wondering how many cards were in there.

"Not opening that?" Alice's voice pulled me from my musings, and I saw her smiling at me. I quickly shook my head,

"Just things I've forgotten from home. I'll open it in the dormitory" I told her before getting my wand out and shrinking it, putting it in my pocket for later. She didn't say anything, just looked at me curiously before turning her attention back to her breakfast leaving me feeling relieved and hoping that nobody would ask me any further questions.

We stayed chatting in the Great Hall until Fiona and the guys made us get up and make our way down to the quidditch pitch to watch try outs. Thankfully, it was a bright, warm September day and so I didn't feel too cold and relished the warmth, knowing it was going to get very cold very soon. I was bringing up the back of the group when I noticed Sirius hang back, looking at me with a smile before falling into step with me, Fiona giving me a grin as she sped up.

"Was quidditch a big thing at Beauxbatons?" he asked me casually as we made our way down to the pitch, not giving me an opportunity to consider if this was weird.

"Kinda. I mean, there were regular matches and stuff. But not being too interested I didn't pay too much attention" I admitted with a shrug, seeing him shake his head which made me smile.

"So strange. Well I hope you realise you don't have much of a choice here?" he asked me, a cheeky smile on his face which made me laugh.

"I'm beginning to get that impression" I told him, making me laugh in return. It was a nice sound; his laughter was filled with this warmth which I found gave me an odd sensation of butterflies which I tried to quickly shake.

"Just out of interest, what time did you get up this morning?" he asked, pulling me from my thoughts as I did my best not to blush. "That early huh?" he correctly guessed.

"Kinda" I admitted with a shrug, seeing him give me an exasperated expression.

"You realise it's the weekend, right?" he asked me cheekily and I just shrugged again.

"Oi! Black!" a voice from behind us made Sirius stop and I paused as well, turning around to see a couple of older boys I'd seen in the Gryffindor common room following us.

"That's Alex Camberwell on the right and Callum Foggarty on the left" Sirius informed me as we waited. I looked at the Gryffindor captain, taking in his well-built, athletic build, with messy brown hair and brown eyes. He was pretty good looking and I guessed he would be a beater.

"We on surnames again?" Sirius asked as they came closer with a grin and Alex nodded, rolling his eyes.

"Always surnames when talking quidditch" Alex told him and I saw Callum shake his head at this as both of them looked at me.

"This is Poppy, she's new in my year. Poppy this is Alex and Callum" Sirius introduced us quickly and I gave them a small smile, seeing them return it.

"Nice to meet you properly Poppy. Seen you in the common room of course" Alex replied as we continued to walk down to the pitch.

"It's nice to meet you too" I replied politely and that was all I said as they dove into quidditch talk, discussing who was trying out and quidditch practise days and times etc. I zoned out completely, looking around and taking everything in, noticing that there were quite a few Gryffindors looking like they were going to be trying out, the other girls and Peter waiting for me by the looks of things.

"I'd better get onto the pitch before he yells at me" Sirius told me and I realised that Alex and Callum had wandered off, Alex currently trying to rally the younger years into some sort of order.

"Sure. Well, good luck" I said, seeing him give me a cheeky smile and a wink before heading over himself, leaving me blushing. I tried to shake it before I made my way over to the others, thankfully none of them saying anything as I followed them up some stairs into the stands, leaving me to my thoughts. Since the Wednesday when Sirius had surprised me by being up, he had walked down to breakfast with Remus, Lily and I for the remaining two days. Lily had given him a very weird look, confirming to me that it wasn't normal to see him up at this time before she hurried away from him and walked down with Remus, leaving me to chat to Sirius on the way down. What was even more strange was how none of the other boys or Fiona had found it strange. In fact, they had all acted like it was completely normal and only Alice had commented on it, the others just shrugging it off. However, I found myself becoming increasingly more comfortable in Sirius's company finding him surprisingly easy to talk to and what's more we seemed to get on quite well so far. It was all quite odd and as we watched try outs, I found my eyes darting over to him more often than I would care to admit.

"So, how's your day been?" Luke asked me at dinner that evening with a smile as he poured us both a glass of orange juice and I helped myself to some lasagne.

"Not bad. Went and watched quidditch try outs earlier, then just did some work in the library with Lily and Remus" I told him, managing to look up in time to see him rolling his eyes.

"That isn't much of a birthday" he replied but I just shrugged, having kind of enjoyed it. "So really, why haven't you told your friends?" he continued as we both started to eat.

"I've just started here Luke; I don't think I can say we're friends yet" I told him, but he scoffed.

"Stop being so weird about people wanting to be friends with you. They clearly like you and want to hang out with you so I don't know why you're being so guarded about it" he countered.

"Because it's me! I don't know what you expected" I told him, and he sighed, putting his cutlery down.

"Pop you're not a freak. You gotta stop thinking of yourself like that" he told me softly, making me shake my head as I put my cutlery down too, reaching into my jumper for my necklace. I saw his eyes widen before he smiled at me.

"It glows Luke. It's not normal, is it?" I questioned before tucking it back in.

"It's just a part of who you are. Was that your mums?" he asked me gently and I nodded by way of reply as I resumed eating. "Pop you know they want you to be happy. You can't keep people out because of who you are" he pushed, and I just shrugged, knowing what he was like when he was onto something. "I mean it. Besides, what are they going to say when they eventually find out it was your birthday today?" he asked and I just looked at him, puzzled. This evidently showed as he explained, "Well when one of them has a birthday it will only be a matter of time before they ask you when yours is. Plus, seventeen is a big thing" he added, and I just shrugged.

"I'll just cross that bridge when I come to it" I told him simply. I saw him shake his head, but he thankfully carried on eating.

"Anyway, I've been meaning to ask you" he said, a would-be-casual tone to his voice which made me look up at him interest.

"Oh?" I prompted, very much intrigued.

"Your friend, Lily" he started, making me grin. "Stop it. Is she err, seeing anybody?" he asked, making me laugh.

"Not that I'm aware of" I informed him, and he smiled widely at this and I saw his eyes flicker over to the Gryffindor table.

"Interesting" was all he said before he carried on eating.

"Oh come on! You can't stop there! Do you like her?" I asked, stunned that he wouldn't say anything else. He laughed at this, tapping his nose but I wasn't going to let it go. "Come on! I can put in a good word for you. Although I'm not sure I'll need to…" I tailed off teasingly, seeing him perk up.

"What's she said?" he asked, and I just tapped my nose as he had done a few seconds ago before continuing to eat. "Stop being annoying. Tell me" he told me, but I shook my head.

"Sorry I don't think that's what friends are supposed to do" I countered, knowing I'd have him here. He looked like he wanted to argue but instead he scoffed.

"I don't need your help" he told me cockily, making me shake my head. Pff, boys. All the same.

The girls swung by the Ravenclaw table after they finished eating and I knew this was more of an excuse to see Luke than to collect me, not that I minded.

"Poppy we're heading up to the common now if you want to come with?" Lily asked me, her eyes darting between Luke and I and I saw her straighten up a little.

"Sure, thanks" I told her, giving her a smile as I turned back to Luke who was smiling widely at the girls, his own eyes lingering on Lily. "I'll see you tomorrow" I told Luke and he nodded before grinning at me.

"I hope you have a great evening" he told me teasingly, making me glare at him and he laughed loudly at this, one hand going to ruffle his hair and I knew this was a show for Lily.

"You too" I replied before getting up, seeing all the girls looking at him and Lily smiling widely at him. "Shall we?" I asked, bringing their attention back and I saw them jump before they nodded.

"Nice to see you all" Luke told them and I rolled my eyes as they all blushed.

"You too" Lily replied, giving him a somewhat flirty smile before she turned, and we made our way out. I glanced back, seeing Luke watching us walk away and he grinned at me giving me a thumbs up and I rolled my eyes again before turning back to the girls.

"Pop you're so lucky" Alice breathed when we were out and making our way up the stairs.

"You get to spend all that time with him and he's just…honestly he looks like a Greek god or something" Fiona continued, a dreamy look in her eyes.

"You know he's like a brother to me, right?" I questioned, pulling a face and making them laugh.

"Come on, you have to at least acknowledge he's hot!" Alice exclaimed and I shrugged.

"And he's clever. Like, that just makes him hotter" Lily added, and I couldn't help but grin at her words. She looked at me warily,

"What?" she asked as we continued up to the common room.

"He may have asked me about you" I admitted, feeling the most relaxed I'd felt since I started here. I saw her eyes widen and Alice and Fiona made noises of excitement.

"SHUT UP! MERLIN! WHAT DID HE SAY?!" Fiona yelled at me, making me laugh.

"He just asked whether you were seeing anybody" I said simply with a grin and Alice and Fiona made more noises of excitement, Lily's eyes still wide as she looked at me in disbelief. We had stopped by now and we were all stood huddled in a circle; evidently this was too exciting to be moving.

"What did you say?" Lily asked and I gave her a reassuring smile.

"I told him that I wasn't aware of you seeing anybody" I told her, and her face lit up as Fiona punched her.

"Lily Evans I'm so dam jealous!" she said, making me laugh.

"And why are you jealous of Evans?" a male voice from behind us made us all jump as we saw the Marauders stood behind us.

"Nothing" Lily said quickly, grabbing me and marching off. "Oh my gosh Poppy I want to know your entire conversation" she said as we went, making me laugh as I re-countered everything. As far as birthdays go, this one hadn't been too bad.