Sunday, 3 October 1976
"Get off," Lena moaned as Maggie shook her awake.
"Get up, Lee! You'll miss breakfast," Maggie commanded.
All Lena wanted to do was sleep. She had not gone to bed until well past midnight. Lena rolled out of bed and threw on her new Cauldron Coven t-shirt and tucked it into a pair of blue jeans. She went to the washroom and stared at herself in the mirror. Her hair was a tangle of curls and there were bags under her eyes. She brushed her teeth, but did not bother to brush her brown hair. Instead, she tied her hair back into a messy bun and pulled a few stands out to frame her face.
"Alright," Lena sighed, "Let's go."
Lena, Maggie, and Ava walked side by side as they approached the Great Hall.
Ava turned her head to her, "Where did you go yesterday. We fell asleep around ten last night and you weren't back! We were so worried about you!"
"We even went to your brother," Maggie added.
"Ugh, he's going to be so annoying about it," Lena groaned, as she and her friends sat down at the Hufflepuff table. "I can't even say I was doing something exciting and that's why I came back so late! I just lost track of time when I was drawing at Hogsmeade and then I fell asleep. I barely got any sleep the night before."
"I'm not even surprised," Maggie laughed.
Lena piled her plate with bacon, hash browns, and toast. She was spreading strawberry jam on her toast when her brother sat across from her, his friends trailing behind him.
"Hi, Petey," Lena greeted before biting a piece off of her bacon.
Sirius snickered, "Petey."
Peter shot him a look and turned back to face his sister. "What happened to you yesterday? Were you with a guy?"
"Merlin, I wish," Lena mumbled.
Remus frowned and crossed his arms.
"Sadly," Lena continued, "the highlight of my day yesterday was falling asleep after losing track of time."
Peter nodded his head. It seemed plausible enough that Lena dozed off. Just this summer, Lena had fallen asleep at the Leaky Cauldron, one of the noisest places in Diagon Alley, when she had not gotten enough sleep the night before. "Alright, I'll see you later, Lee," he said, returning to the Gryffindor table with his mates.
Before leaving, Remus spoke. "I'm glad you're okay. I was worried something bad might have happened."
Lena bit her lip, feeling guilty for lying. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to worry."
"S'alright." Then, Remus smiled. "You're wearing the shirt."
Lena grinned. "Of course, I love it. Thank you for getting for me."
"Anything for you," he said, before walking off.
Lena smiled happily into her plate as Maggie and Ava giggled.
"Oh, shut up and tell me what happened on your dates."
Friday, 8 October 1976
Lena was fuming as she spoke to the Fat Lady, demanding to be let into the Gryffindor Dormitory. Peter was supposed to meet her an hour ago to help her study for her upcoming History of Magic exam. She desperately needed to pass the exam. She had gotten a P on her last quiz for the class.
"Just let me in!" Lena cried.
"No! You aren't a Gryffindor! You're a Hufflepuff!" the Fat Lady retorted.
"So! My brother's a Gyffindor. I'm here all the time."
"I don't care. No password, no entrance."
Lena stomped her foot and whined. "Why not?"
Suddenly, Lily Evans poked her head out of the Gryffindor dormitory.
"Hi, Lena," Lily said, "I heard the commotion. Are you looking for Raj?"
Lena composed herself. "Hi, Lily. I'm looking for Peter. We were supposed to meet, but he didn't show up."
"Oh, come on in," Lily waved.
"Thanks, Lily."
As she entered Lena gave the Fat Lady a triumphant look, who grunted in response.
Lena looked at Lily's face. She looked like she normally did except that her green eyes were filled with something—sadness or disappointment, perhaps. "Are you alright, Lily? Has James been bothering you," she asked lightly.
Lily left out a small laugh. "No, not this time. It's just…" Lily's voice grew very small. "I got a letter from my sister, Petunia. My parents forced her to write it, according to her. She told me that she pretends that she tells her friends in London that she's an only child. She doesn't want anyone knowing that she's related to a freak. We used to be so close and then we found out I was a witch…She hates me now."
Lena frowned. Lena loved her brother and knew that Peter would never turn on her. She could not imagine what Lily was going through with her sister. Lena reached out and rubbed Lily's arm.
"I'm so sorry, Lily. But you've got to know you're not a freak. Your sister is just being an areshole. She shouldn't be making you feel terrible about you being yourself. I'm sure she'll come around sometime soon."
Lily sighed, "Thank you, Lena. I really appreciate that."
Lena knocked on the door to Peter's room.
"It's open!" Frank shouted.
Lena swung the door open and looked around. Frank was on his bed with his guitar in hand, looking at something on his bed. Lena frowned. Frank was the only person in the room.
"Hey, Lena," Frank spoke up.
"Hi, Frank. Do you know where Peter is?"
"Ummm, I think he and the others went to set up a prank or something."
Groaning, Lena flopped on her brother's bed. "Ugh, I'm going to kill 'im. He's supposed to be helping me right now."
"Anything I can help with?" Frank offered.
"Uh, no. It's fine, I'll just wait for him." Lena appreciated Frank's offer to help but she would never accept it. At least when it came to school. She did not want anyone knowing about her dyslexia and or to see her struggle.
"Well, I—"
"So," Lena interrupted, "what are you playing?"
"I'm trying to learn 'Wings of a Phoenix,'" Frank said.
Lena furrowed her brow. "Wings of a Phoenix" was an amazing song, but incredibly old and obscure. The only reason Lena knew of it was because her grandfather kept the record on repeat whenever she visited them. Lena was surprised that Frank had heard of it.
"How'd you hear about the song, Frank?"
"Well, Alice mentioned it was her favourite song and she's got taste in music so I figured I'd try playing it," Frank blushed.
"Ahhhhh. I see," Lena said smiling.
It was no secret to Lena that Frank developed a crush on Alice last year. Frank was very popular, with his good looks and kind nature, and many of the girls at Hogwarts liked him. He always remained calm and relaxed when he was around people. Then one day, he looked at Alice and no longer saw her as a friend. He lost all his confidence when she was around. Alice was oblivious to his changed feelings, though. It must be hard, Lena thought, to realize when someone you have known for so long starts seeing you in a different light.
Frank had been doing everything in his power to change Alice's perception of him as a friend to him as a boyfriend. Near the end of the previous school year, Lena had heard Alice declare that guys who played the guitar were unbelievably attractive. Fast forward to the start of the new school year, Frank had come back to Hogwarts with a guitar, having learned to play it over the summer.
"What do you mean 'Ahhhhh. I see?'" Frank asked.
"Just that you like Alice," Lena replied cheekily.
Frank groaned in embarrassment. "You know about that?"
"Don't be embarrassed, Frank. It's sweet. So when are you going to ask her out?"
"I dunno. My mum says I need to grow a pair and just get it over with."
"I've got to agree with your mum on this one, Frank."
Frank fell back on his bed. "She may no, though."
"Or another guy may ask her out and you'll never get the chance to go on a date with her."
Frank shot up. "Crap, you're right!"
"I know I am. Now let's hear 'Wings of a Phoenix,'" Lena said.
Before Lena knew it, the strumming of Frank's guitar lulled her to sleep.
Saturday, 9 October 1976
It was the early hours of the next morning when the Marauders returned under the cover of James' Invisibility Cloak to their room. The full moon had been particularly challenging that night. James, Sirius, and Peter looked worse for wear but appeared fine otherwise. Remus, though, had scratched himself badly across his face and body. In his werewolf form, Remus hates being confined and would harm himself while trying to injure his friends in their Animagi forms.
All Peter wanted to do was collapse on his bed and sleep for the rest of the day. His plan was derailed by the sight of his sister fast asleep on his bed, clutching his pillow.
Peter turned to Frank, who was sleeping on his bed and cuddling with his guitar. Peter shook his shoulder.
Frank sleepily opened his eyelids. "Oh, hey Pete."
"Hey, Frank," Peter said calmly before getting annoyed. "Is there a reason why my sister is asleep here the day after the full moon?"
"Yeah, she came here looking for you. Apparently, you two had plans to meet last night. She fell asleep waiting for you."
"Crap!" Peter said. He had completely forgotten that he promised his sister to study with her.
The battered and bruised Remus placed a hand on Peter's shoulder. "Wormtail, you didn't have to come last night if you had plans."
"It doesn't matter, Rem. I wanted to be there for you. If Lena knew, she'd understand why I couldn't meet her last night."
Sirius asked, "Why didn't you tell her to go?"
"I tried, but I got distracted by what we were talking about," Frank asked.
"And what, may I ask, were you talking about?" James asked.
"Alice," Frank said, happily bopping his head.
"Of, course," Sirius smirked.
"Never mind that," Peter said, "What did you tell her when she asked where we were?"
"You didn't tell her I'm a werewolf, right?"
"No, Remus. I did not tell Lena that you are a werewolf or that Peter, James, and Sirius are unregistered Animagi. I told her you guys were setting up some pranks."
Remus released a sigh of relief.
"Alright," Peter spoke, "I'm gonna wake her up."
The boys nodded as Peter leaned over his sister and gently shook her. Lena's eyes fluttered open and released the pillow. She turned to face her brother.
"Morning, Lena," he said nervously, anticipating her wrath.
"Hello, Peter," she started, "I can't believe you ditched me last night for a pra— Oh my Merlin!"
Lena had leaned up from the bed and looked around the room. Frank was as he was last night— perfectly intact. Her brother and the rest of his were not, however. Peter, Sirius, and James appeared deathly tired. Remus was far worse than the rest of them. His beautiful face was covered in fresh scratches and bags were under his eyes.
"What the hell happened to all of you?!" She cried, leaping to her feet.
The boys began to stammer as they tried to think of a plausible excuse. She grabbed her brother's face and examined it with narrowed eyes. Lena repeated her actions and did the same to James and Sirius. She turned her attention to Remus and gently sat him on bed. She sat across from and softly cupped his face with one hand and moved his hair away from his forehead. Remus was glad that his face was already red from injuring himself earlier. He would be too embarrassed if Lena knew she was making him blush. And even though he was in pain and covered in self-inflicted injuries, Remus was happy. It gave him a chance for him to be close to Lena and he enjoyed the affection and attention she was bestowing upon him.
"Oh, Remus," she said, stroking his cheek with her thumb, "How do you feel? Can I bring you anything?"
"No, you don't need to do anything. I'm fine," Remus lied.
"You are not fine," Lena said softly.
Quickly, she turned her head in anger in the direction of Sirius, James, and Peter. "He is not fine. What in Godric's name happened?"
James lied smoothly to Lena. "Our prank went wrong and we got a bit banged up. Especially Moony."
"A bit banged up?" Lena cried. "Look at him! You shouldn't be doing anything so stupid that could hurt Remus…or yourselves…or anyone else for that matter."
"Yes, Lena," her brother and his two black-haired friends mumbled, as if they were five year olds whose mother just caught them swiping a cookie before dinner.
Lena turned her attention back to Remus and squeezed his hands lovingly. "Please let me know if you need anything, Remus."
"Okay," he whispered.
Lena rose and bid her goodbyes, leaving the room. Peter followed her and grabbed her by the arm and spun her around.
"Lee, I'm sorry I didn't show up. Something important came up."
"You're right, Peter. A prank is far more important than me." She paused. "I know it's not fair that you need to help me and it takes time away from your own plans. But I really needed your help last night and you weren't there."
"Lena, I am so sorry. I will not let you down again."