Title: Of High School, Werewolves and Deadly Nightshade
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Yeah yeah, sure sure.
Alternate Universe-y things : Lily used to be in another school, Severus is really nice save a few dark secrets, Peter's almost evil from the start..
A/n: Hey, thanks for reviewing, I appreciate it loads. Please keep reading!
Chapter Three: Girls, girls, girls.
In which we encounter that girl.
"Belinda, Annette, Julia, Maeve, Celine, Pamela.."
Remus leaned back, using 'Wingardium Leviosa' to move his quill. He was writing a list of possible Ball dates on a piece of parchment.
Nearby, Sirius and James were at it again. This time though, it looked like James was gaining the upper hand.
"Queen to D4!" he crowed. "Yes! Yes!"
He jumped up, raising his hands in victory. Everybody in the common room turned to look at their Seeker.
"Prongs," Remus said drily. "You'd better sit down. The first years are staring and I think Patil's going to have a fit."
James looked, suddenly aware. Perdita Patil, while being completely amiable and helpful when it came to news about Lily Evans, had been stalking him ever since he became Seeker in second year. Of late, she had been desperately trying to get his attention. It was whispered that she was trying to get James to bring her to the Ball. Personally, she terrified him. He hurriedly sat down.
Sirius laughed a little at his friend's reaction. It was not a very big deal to him. Waving his wand, he muttered "Reparo Maine Strategum" and the chess set magically packed itself away.
"Well, that was fun," he said, tired. The pair had been at it for a rather long time until James emerged victorious. Remus halted his charm for a while and Sirius snatched up his parchment.
"Hey!"
James leaned over to look at the list as well. It was around fifty names strong.
"I must say, Moony, I'm impressed," laughed Sirius.
James scanned all the names. "Would you ask Perdita please? She's really starting to bug me," he pleaded.
Remus seemed to consider it. He looked over at Perdita who was staring as usual and winked roguishly at her. She suddenly noticed, went scarlet and rushed out of the room.
"Not a chance," he decided. "I'm merely listing my possibilities."
"That's awful," piped James.
"Well, you should try the same," came the retort. "Lillian's not getting any more of a prospect."
"I see Evans isn't on this list," noted Sirius, still peering at the parchment.
"Nope," replied Remus, sneaking a quick look at James. Then he continued darkly, "I'm not going near anyone having anything to do with that insufferable Snape."
James had gone quiet. Sirius did not notice this just yet. "Why is it that you hate Severus Snape so much anyway? I mean, Prongs I get, but you and Wormtail?" he asked.
At that moment, the fourth Marauder turned up. Peter Pettigrew was by far the most introverted of the entire group. He even looked it, standing slighter than all of them. To outsiders, he seemed to just follow the other boys around all the time. It looked as if they were all just being nice.
"You called?" he now said, pulling up a chair.
"Oh, hello Wormtail," said Sirius. He quickly told Peter what was going on.
Peter grinned mischeviously. "Is that why Prongs is all shuttery?"
James went red, and anxiously tried to change the subject. "Peter, have you got a date to the ball yet?" he asked.
When thought about, this probably was not the smartest thing to talk about. However, the topic of Quidditch had, in the past, sparked reactions from his friends he was not particularly fond of and that they, as opposed to him, would love to repeat. These usually involved Bludgers as a favorite matter of discussion.
Determined to tease James, Peter quickly said, "Not yet, but I hear Lily hasn't an escort."
Sirius' eyes widened. "They broke up? But Aaron just told me that they agreed to make an appearance by persuasion of the slimy git!"
It had begun, there was no way to avoid it. Sirius, Peter and James were engrossed in an anxious conversation about Lily and Severus.
'Gossip' thought Remus disdainfully. He looked at the Marauder's Map, a little invention of the group's, and saw that Cynthia McKinnon, a girl he was supposed to take a walk with or some other useless activity that afternoon, was approaching the common room.
Swearing a little, he excused himself to try and make a run for the Gryffindor Quidditch team's locker room. The girl had apparently passed James some sort of trinket she expected him to wear this afternoon and he had conveniently left it in his locker for Remus to retrieve. This had happened a week ago.
Once out of the portrait hole, he managed to get past the girl by sneaking around behind couches, suits of armor and other assorted corridor decorations. She walked, unknowing, straight into the common room. As soon as she was out of sight, Remus caught his breath and resumed moving normally, only to immediately collide with someone he did not recognize.
The effect was colossal. The four or so stacks of books she had been carrying seemed to spontaneously combust (that is, without burning) and they ended up all over the floor. She immediately dropped, worried. Remus was extremely embarrassed.
The girl, upon getting to the ground, had let out a string of curses that even Sirius would have been proud of. 'Or impressed at,' Remus thought in retrospect.
Apologetically, he bent down to help her. She paid no attention to him. At this point, he realized that she did not seem to be attempting to pick up her books, but instead appeared to be pushing them away from her, as if looking for something.
The girl was not familiar at all, and if Remus did not know who she was, she had to be new. She was dressed halfway in Muggle clothes, a full length black catsuit under a long black cloak. Not, Remus noticed, school issued.
He began piling some of the books into his arms. From what he could see, he had all of the same things. There were textbooks for every subject available at Hogwarts for Fifth and Sixth Year, and they were brand new, a ponytail of long blonde hair hit him in the face as the girl's head jerked up and she glared at Remus angrily. "Who the hell are you?" she snapped in an American accent. "Get away from my stuff."
Her eyes were livid, and her tone was nothing short of venomous.
Remus, ever happy to entertain ladies, remembered his manners.
"Well," he began flirtatiously. "My name is Re-"
He was not able to finish. "Alright, you're forgiven, now get away from my stuff," she demanded in the tone of an annoyed older sister.
Remus was struck by her eyes. She was evidently fearless, defiant. They were a hazel shaded brown, and swished gold when caught by light. He also immediately recognized something in them. He could not tell what it was, but he was sure it was there.
The girl's expression changed to meet his. Confusion and uncertainty met and clashed. They stared at each other, wondering what it was.
She broke it by finding what she had been searching for, her wand. Remus saw that her wand was rare and unusual, to say the least. It was made of adamantium.
Muttering something, she waved her wand once and her books jumped back into place. She had not voiced an incantation, or a charm. Remus had deduced 'something about using wands'. 'Powerful,' he thought.
Angrily, she picked up her books and stood up, giving Remus a chance to marvel at her figure. Then she smoothed her hair and brushed past him without another word.
Remus watched her walking away. She moved gracefully, like a cat. More like a lioness actually. A few times, several people had commented that he himself walked a little like a predator but on her it was extremely obvious. As if she had been born and raised that way. Remus shook his head. That girl had problems, or secrets, or something equally bad. Either way, he did not intend to mind anything about her. Association would just cause trouble, he was sure of that. Remus knew. After all, he had a secret of his own.
Alright, perhaps a little short. Next Chapter: Deadly, in which we find out more about HER(not a Mary Sue I promise, I'm Asian!) and about Remus, which you already know but what the heck. Story will develop further. Also, no matter what I'm posting everything cos I actually wrote up the whole story already..review please!!