"Yes, let's move on," Sirius said quickly. "Moving on is good. Very good."

His reaction would be extremely hilarious if I didn't share the same sentiment. Yes, moving on would be very, very good.

"Can I just ask one question before we move on?" Remus asked.

I gave him a wary look. No questions about that particular memory would be good ones.

"Nothing too personal," he assured me.

"Oh, go on."

He would just be distracted throughout the next memories.

"Why didn't you just do all... uh, that in your room? You and your mother were the only ones in, correct?"

I just stared at him. That was a good point. A very good point, actually. Why hadn't I just done that? I had a full-length mirror in my bedroom back then too!

"Yes..."

Of course, Sirius chose now to burst out into laughter.

"All that fuss for nothing!" he said gleefully. Remus smacked him upside the head. "Ok. I'm done now."

"And I was an idiot," I said, smacking my forehead. "I could have just gone in my room!"

"Don't worry, most teenager are idiots," Remus reassured me.

"Let's just move onto my third year, shall we?"

"RAVENCLAW!"

Tonks clapped as Edward Young got sorted. More because he was the last one and now it was time for food! Why did it always feel so long since eating her sandwiches at lunch on the train?

Dumbledore stood up and they all fell silent, naturally.

"Another year of learning is ready to begin!" He said with a beaming smile. "Welcome and welcome back! Of course, now is not the time for speeches. It is time to fill our bellies so they groan with pleasure!"

And then he sat down again, all the food appearing as he did so. Tonks' stomach grumbled appreciatively. She wondered if Dumbledore had ever made a speech before everyone had eaten? He certainly hadn't while she had been here. She didn't think she would be able to stand it.

"Finally," she said in relief, laying claim to one of the bowls of potatoes. Oh, perfect, they were mashed. Now for the gravy.

"Got enough gravy there?"

Tonks jumped as she heard that voice, slopping the gravy over the table. One of the Prefects vanished it before it dripped onto her lap, thankfully.

"James!" she scolded as her friend slipped into the space beside her on the bench.

"Hi." He returned, grinning like an idiot.

"Where did you go?" Tonks demanded. "And there's no such thing as too much gravy, I'll have you know."

He had ridden the train with her and Samantha and Davey as usual but he had got hauled off by some friends when they had arrived in Hogsmeade and got into a different carriage.

James rolled his eyes. "Mark wanted to show off his holiday photos."

She scrunched up her nose. That was not her idea of fun.

"Yeah," he didn't look too happy about it either. "All he did was take pictures of buildings? What's so interesting about that?"

"I can hear you, Abbot!" Mark called from further down the table.

"Good!" James retorted and then whispered to Tonks. "They weren't even in focus half of the time."

She couldn't help but giggle a bit at that. Poor James!

"Did you have a good summer?" she asked. "You were going to Dublin, weren't you?"

"Yeah, it was okay. A lot of rain but the accents were amazing."

"Seriously? That's what you focus on?"

"Well, have you heard Irish accents?" James asked defensively.

"Well, no..."

"Well, they're the best in the world!"

"Okay, okay," she placated him, just wanting to get off the topic of how people spoke. "Irish accents are good."

"The best," James corrected.

"Right, right. The best."

Her friend looked to be satisfied with that.

"How was your summer then?"

"Well, there weren't any Irish accents," she said with a straight face.

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny. Seriously, what did you get up to?"

"Nothing much, really. We went to Blackpool and Paris this year. Dad was owed some extra time off thanks to pulling double shifts at St Mungo's. We had a three-week holiday instead of two."

"Nice."

"Yeah. Oh! I got a stick of rock for everyone. Remind to give you yours."

"Sure. Anyway, can I see Hokey again?" he asked hopefully.

He had been quite taken with her pet as she had showed him off on the train. Yes, Professor Sprout and her parents finally agreed that she could bring him to Hogwarts. Which was great because she really did miss him during the year. She was pretty sure he missed her too because he always gave her a warning bite every time she returned home for the holidays.

"I don't have him on me," Dora said in exasperation. "He's in his cage, probably up in the dorm by now."

"Aw."

Did he seriously think that Dora would bring an animal around food? Now, Hokey was a clean creature (don't let anyone tell you otherwise) but even she knew better than that.

"You can see him after the feast," she offered.

Hokey did like being handled by people. He was really quite sociable. James could do it in the dorm. He hadn't been given a chance on the train because she hadn't wanted him to get lost or slip out a window or something. That and Hokey really hadn't liked all the moving of the train. He had positively huffed in his cage.

"Boys aren't allowed up in the girls dorm," James reminded her. "I don't want to get in trouble on the first day."

"I'll bring him down to the Common Room then," she said. "But maybe at the weekend when there's fewer people about. I don't want him getting all scared."

James sighed dramatically. "I suppose I'll have to wait then."

Tonks giggled. "Yes. You will." then she gave him a poke. "Pass me that other gravy boat since you made me spill all of mine."

"A happy accident. You're not eating a stew."

"I'll pour it over you!" she threatened and the two of them burst into laughter.

James passed her the gravy and shook his head as she nearly emptied it onto her plate. Yum. Perfect potato to gravy ratio.

Yes, it was good to be back at Hogwarts for another year.

"I forgot about Hokey!" Sirius exclaimed gleefully. "I can't believe you were allowed to bring him to Hogwarts! Don't the rules say that only cats, owls and rats are allowed?"

"They do but I got permission from Professor Sprout."

Obviously. It wasn't like I had a plan to smuggle my moke into school or anything...

"A bit a favouritism there?"

I snorted; I was definitely not Sprout's favourite student. Not by a long shot.

"Actually, plenty of students have 'non regulation' pets," Remus stated. "Lots of reptiles and ravens and the such apparently. "The pet rule is more of a guideline than a hard and fast rule. As long as the student can demonstrate that they can take the appropriate care for it, permission will be given. Though I don't think permission had ever been given for dogs..."

"Prejudice, I tell you. Prejudice!" Sirius exclaimed.