Thank you all so much for the reviews! This is the next chapter and I
honestly didn't expect it to be up this soon at all but it is so I hope you
enjoy it! I don't have much else to say except keep up the reviews cos
there making my write faster and more confidently, if I am doing anything
that needs improving please tell me, I love to know your opinion! Thanks
~*~mysticaldreams
Chapter 3: reunions
Lilly woke up early the next morning despite her restless night sleep.
From what she could gather, her sister had come back unreasonably late last night and her father hadn't been too impressed.
She checked her trunk to see if she had forgotten anything before she went downstairs to breakfast.
Her mother was waiting for her, trying unsuccessfully to hide her distressed expression.
"T-tea dear"?
"Yeah, thanks mum"
Mrs. Evens came back to the table with the teapot in her hands. She started to pour it into two brightly coloured cups but as she tipped it her hands started trembling uncontrollably and she spilt half of the tea on the table, missing the teacup all together.
It was only a few seconds until Lilly snapped out of her daydream and realized what her mother was doing.
"Mum"!
"Oh, I'm sorry dear" she said exasperated.
She sat back down and ran her fingers through her long, red, slightly graying hair.
"What's wrong"? Lilly asked soothingly.
"It's just Petunia" she said as if this explained everything, but the thing was that to Lilly, it did.
"She came back so late last night and she just wasn't herself, your father was furious"!
"I know, I heard him" Lilly said glumly.
"Sorry dear" she apologized again.
She shook her head. "Well come on, eat up! You need to be at the train station in half an hour".
Sure enough, in half an hour Lilly, Mrs. Evens and a very disgruntled Mr. Evens had pulled up in front of Kings Cross Station.
Lilly jumped out of the car bouncing with excitement. She hauled her trunk out of the boot and led the way to platforms nine and ten. The three of them stepped through the brick wall inconspicuously and fell into the throng of parents and students saying their goodbyes and boarding the train.
Mr. Evens former furious face had now been replaced with a beaming smile as he looked down at his sixteen year old daughter. Her gold and scarlet prefect badge was shinning proudly on her collar.
"Honey we're so proud of you" Mrs. Evens said hugging her daughter.
"Have a good year Lilly, we'll send you a letter telling you what we are doing for the holidays" Mr. Evens said embracing his daughter in a rib cracking hug.
They both helped her to get her trunk onto the train before saying their last goodbyes.
Lilly got onto the train, searching her apartments, trying to find her best friend.
She bustled down the corridors, lugging her trunk behind her, hoping to find her friend's compartment before the train started, however, while she was searching there was a soft chink on the floor and she looked down to realize that her prefect badge had dropped off her collar and the pin had broken. She cursed under her breath and bent down to retrieve it, though as she got up again she met the fright of a lifetime, her worst enemy was standing directly in front of her. She jumped back from him, disgust written all over her face. It was the hazel eyed, Jet black, ruffled haired wretch himself.
"Well look who's lived up to their expectations" James Potter said, grinning his spotless white teeth at Lilly, whilst looking at her broken prefect badge.
"Look who hasn't" she said smirking with satisfaction at his badge less collar.
"Now, now Lilly, there's no need to rub it in, though there isn't much to rub in, why would I want to be a prefect? It would take all the fun out of life"!
"Yes, well James, some people like rules, they keep arrogant prat's like yourself from annoying them"
"Rules were made to be broken" he retorted "and there's no need for the name calling".
"I'm only stating the obvious" she said smartly.
"That was harsh"
"Does it look like I care"?
"Don't worry, I know you do"
"Can't you just leave me alone"! She screamed
"You're so beautiful when you're angry you know"
"Argh! You're so infuriating"! She yelled.
A couple of heads appeared out of the compartment doors, looking curiously, waiting for the usual scream out between the two rivals that they had come accustomed to.
"Come on Lilly, we've been doing the same thing since first year, can't you keep your voice down, I mean, I honestly don't mind the attention but your really gonna give yourself a sore throat" he said matter of factly. "Besides, you're a prefect now, you have to live up to your responsibilities, and I don't think yelling at me is too responsible" he pointed out.
"You wouldn't know what responsibility was if it hit you on the head! Besides, you better be careful Potter, I may not be able to scream at you all the time anymore, but I can give out detentions" she said willingly.
"Detentions are a breeze, I can juggle"
"What homework"? She asked jokingly.
"Not school homework" he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Well I'm sorry but as much as a nice little chat this has been, I have to get off to the prefects meeting" Lilly said turning her back on him.
"Make sure you say hi to Remus for me when you get there won't you"? he called after her. She spun around, her red hair flying, he grinned at her and she turned and kept walking down the aisle.
Great! She hadn't completely gotten out of the annoyance of James! But at least it was Remus who was prefect and not Sirius, Remus was the better of the three, you couldn't really count Peter, the day Peter became prefect would be the day Petunia said she was a witch! Lilly thought to herself.
The train had started moving and had a surprisingly long time ago without Lilly even realizing it. She was worried she was going to be late for the meeting.
"Damn James"! She mumbled under her breath.
"What was that"? A friendly voice came from over her shoulder, she span around, and this time, standing in front of her was a tall, brown, shoulder length haired girl with freckles sprinkled all over her nose.
"Hey Miria"
"I thought I heard your calm, cool and collected voice drifting down the corridor" she said with a cheeky grin. "But you know, he does have a point, you are a prefect now and screaming at him isn't gonna set a very good example, but then again, I guess I could do that for you" she said looking proudly up at her friend.
"You know I don't do it on purpose, he provokes me"! Lilly said.
Miria just nodded, knowing that agreeing with her friend would be the best way of getting herself out of trouble. They walked down the hall and sidled into a compartment. It was empty other than a large trunk that held the gyffindor crest in the baggage rack and a small black kitten curled up on the seat, purring loudly.
"Awww who's cat"? Lilly asked
"She's mine, her names Ashes" Miria replied.
"Oh she's adorable, when did you get her"?
"I got her for my birthday from me mum"
Lilly walked up to the kitten and started patting it as it purred.
"Oh my god"! Lilly suddenly shrieked, "I'm supposed to be at the prefect's meeting! I'm already late!". She ran towards the compartment door.
"Lilly the meeting isn't until half past" Miria reminded her.
"Oh yeah, I forgot"
She slumped down onto the leather seat and Ashes jumped onto her lap. With the realization that her broken prefect badge was still crumpled in her hand she took her wand out of her robes and muttered 'repairo'. The pin became one again and she fastened it back onto her collar.
"So, Lupin the boy, Gryiffindor prefect"? Miria asked
"Yeah, at least it's better than that other scum, I honestly don't understand wh"-Lilly cut off abruptly as there was a knock on the compartment door. A girl with waist long, silky black hair and chocolate brown eyes stood in the doorway. Something about her appearance was oddly familiar but Lilly couldn't decide what.
" Um, would I be able to sit with you, all the other compartments are full"? She asked.
"Yeah sure"! Lilly and Miria said in unison.
The girl slid her trunk in the luggage rack and sat down next to Lilly.
"Thanks, my names Andromeda, but you can call me Annie for short, what's yours"?
"Lilly"
"Miria"
"So, you new here"? Miria asked Andromeda.
"Yeah, I transferred from Durmstrang"
"Really! I've read a lot about that school. Why did you leave"? Lilly asked
"I hated it there! But mostly family problems" she said grimly.
"Oh, I'm sorry"
"Nah, that's ok, besides, I've wanted to come here since I started school"
She snatched a look at Lilly's prefect badge and then asked "So are you both in Gryffindor"?
"Yeah, 6th year" Miria answered.
"Really! Me too! I mean I really hope I'll be in Gryffindor, but I'm in but I'm in 6th year, though I'm turning seventeen this year"
"Did you start school late"? Lilly asked confused.
"Yeah"
"I didn't know you could do that" Miria queried.
"Well if you couldn't, my mother made it possible" Andromeda replied frowning.
Lilly decided to turn the conversation around from what she had heard; Andromeda didn't really want to talk about her family.
"Ok, I'll give you a couple of tips" Lilly said to her.
"Alright, what sort"?
"The sort that keep you away from annoyance and disaster at Hogwarts"
"I could definitely do with some of them, I'm dead clumsy"!
"Don't worry, so am I" Miria put in with a smile.
"Number one tip, stay as far away from the Marauders as possible"
"What are the Marauders"?
"A group of four boys that reek havoc around the school" Miria said
"May I also say that they are all arrogant prats and don't deserve to be in Gryffindor" Lilly said indignantly.
"How do I know who they are"?
"I'll point them out to you" Lilly said.
"Tip number two, if you can avoid it, don't talk to any of the Slytherins"
"I've heard about them, horrible people" she said screwing up her nose.
"Tip number three, don't go into the 3rd floor lavatory, a ghost called Moaning Myrtle floods it about once a week"
"And last but not least, stay away from the caretakers cat Mrs. Norris" Lilly finished.
"Oh yeah, and try and stay away from Peeves, though there's no avoiding him when he's after you" Miria said.
"Thanks, I'll try and remember all that"
"Oh shit! Look at the time! I have to get off to the Prefect's carriage, I'll see you when I get back" Lilly took off out the door with one swift wave of the hand and headed off to the meeting.
~*~
The rest of the train ride was highly enjoyable for the three girls. Lilly and Miria got to know Andromeda a lot better and by the time the train had pulled up at Hogsmeade station they were all talking to one another like long friends.
The three of them got off the train and pushed their way through the mingled crowd.
"Ok Annie, here they are" Lilly whispered in Andromeda's ear as she caught sight of the Marauders coming down the platform.
"I now introduce you to the arrogant gits of a century"! Lilly began her commentary.
"First, and the farthest one to the left" she pointed out, "is the whimpering, whining Peter Pettigrew". Andromeda's eyes fell onto a short and skinny boy with mousy brown hair plastered onto his head. He was talking to a tall, ruffled looking boy with brown hair.
"That's Remus Lupin, he's a Gryffindor Prefect with me, you can handle him on his own"
Lilly gave a tremendous sigh. "And the next one along is the most pig headed of them all, James Potter" She said with disgust, spitting out his name like a disease.
"Yeah, if you want some entertainment watch them two fight, it happens at least once every two days" Miria whispered to Andromeda.
Lilly threw her a death stare but kept going. "And standing next to him is the trusty sidekick S"---
"SIRIUS"! Andromeda squealed.
Sirius span around, looking for the person who had called his name, but he got his answer suddenly as Andromeda ran up and caught him in a tight hug.
He looked down at the girls silky black hair and it was only then that Lilly saw the familiar qualities that Annie and Sirius held, they both had silky black hair and the same chocolate brown eyes.
"Annie"! He said rather perplexed returning the hug.
He lifted her off her feet and spun her around joyously. A couple of people turned their heads in the crowd and Marauders and Lilly and Miria all looked on with confused expressions.
"How did you get here"? Sirius asked laughing.
"I copied your idea, I hope you don't mind"
"You ran"?
"No, I flew"
He laughed again and put her back down on the ground.
"Another long lost girlfriend Padfoot"? Remus asked mockingly
"No" they both said in unison.
"Well would you care to explain"? He asked.
"This is my cousin, you know, Andromeda, the one I told you about"?
"Er Padfoot, do you realize exactly how many cousins you have"? James said looking bemused.
"Not those filthy excuses for cousins, the cousins that actually matter, you know, the good ones".
"Oh" They all chorused together.
"I'm sorry but I still don't follow" Lilly said looking at them all.
"That's because your head isn't big enough" James said carelessly
"Oh opposed to your overlarge head that inflates every two seconds" she snapped.
"Ehem" everyone turned their heads towards Peter and he looked a little embarrassed at having all the attention.
"Erm, we're kinda gonna be late"
They looked around at the almost deserted platform.
"Oh shit"! Andromeda cursed, "I was supposed to go across the lake with the first years"! She looked over at the fleet of boats already a quarter of the way across the shining water.
"Ahwell, looks loke you'll be coming with us"! Sirius said happily.
Lilly looked at the now deserted platform and the one carriage that was left, waiting for them.
"Great" Lilly mumbled.
"What"?
"We're going to have to try and fit seven people in one carriage fit for four" Lilly replied.
"Well that's easy Evens; you can sit on my lap"! James said grinning.
"Get a life Potter; I'll walk if that's the way it will turn out". She turned briskly on her heel and marched straight to the carriage.
It turned out that Lilly sat wedged between Peter and Remus, Andromeda sat on Sirius' knees and James and Miria stood doubled over against the carriage wall.
They arrived late at the towering castle, but just in time for Andromeda to join the line of first years, lead by professor McGonagall, ready to get sorted into their houses.
They all whispered her good luck before they crept as inconspicuously as possible into the great hall and up to the Gryffindor table. Lilly thought she saw Dumbledore glance at her and wink but thrust it out of her head as the first years and Andromeda walked into the great hall. She stood out like a sore thumb in the midst of the first years, being so tall, but she held her head high as people whispered, wondering who she was.
Professor McGonagall placed the wooden stool on ground in front of the staff table and sat the battered and patched sorting hat on top of it. She unrolled the long piece of parchment with the new student's names on it and gave the usual instructions to place the hat on top of their head and wait for their house to be decided.
Their was a moment of silence, until suddenly the hat burst out in song, describing all the houses and their qualities and finishing with a smart rhyme of how he would sort them. When the song had finished the rip in the hat closed into the dusty material and Professor McGonagall started to call out the long list of names.
"Blooms, Mary-lea" Professor McGonagall called, and a short girl with curly blond hair protruded from the crowd looking very nervous, and a little bit frightened. She sat upon the stool and propped the sorting hat on her head, which fell over her ears and half covered her eyes.
"HUFFLEPUFF"! The hat shouted and a chorus of applause and whistles erupted from the Hufflepuff table.
The list went on and slowly the group in the middle of the hall shrunk as the new students were placed into their houses. The last first year was called up (Jimmy Goodswing) and placed in Ravenclaw and there was only Andromeda left standing by herself.
"Black, Andromeda" Professor McGonagall called, and a couple of people at the Gryffindor table turned their heads to Sirius at hearing the familiar last name as it was screamed often down the hallways by teachers.
Andromeda walked up to the stool and sat down, placing the hat onto her head. There was what felt like a whole minute of silence that followed and everyone waited in baited breath. The hat finally opened the rip near its brim and yelled clearly:
"GRYFFINDOR"! The small group of seven, if possible made the loudest noise in the hall, Sirius and James making wild cat calls and jumping out of their seats.
Andromeda bounced happily off the stool and ran down to join her friends, taking a spot at the table in between Lilly and Sirius. The applause died down and everyone fell silent as Albus Dumbledore, the school headmaster stood to speak.
"Welcome back everyone" His voice rang clearly throughout the hall, "and a special welcome to our first years and a new sixth year who has joined us, welcome Andromeda. I don't want to bore you on an empty stomach, so eat up"! And with that the usual, enormous quantities of freshly baked food appeared on the tables in front of them, and they all ate happily.
"So, 'ow did 'oo find ou'I ran away"? Sirius asked Andromeda with a mouthful of stuffed potato in his mouth.
"Oh, you know on the grape vine, it was a bit obvious when your mother's head turned up in the fireplace, blasting curses everywhere, thinking that you were hiding out at our place"
Sirius laughed, "yeah, I could imagine that".
"When did you run"?
"Oh, about the last week of the holidays, I got my broomstick out, and I flew"
"Oh, you like flying! What kind of broom do you ha"--- James was cut off in his eager attempt.
"Prongs"! Sirius said "Ask her later"!
"Fine" James said huffily.
"You couldn't have flown all the way from your place to here"! Sirius exclaimed, now munching on a chicken leg.
"No, I stopped in at Uncle Alphard's. He set me up a port key"
"Ah, dear Uncle Alphard! Always setting up unauthorized plans, such a good rebel!"
"Yeah, he gave me a generous amount of gold too"!
"Well considering the amount of expensive stolen goods he has for trade, I wouldn't be surprised! So where are you staying"?
"Well I'll be of age in November so I'm thinking of getting my own place, but I've been staying at my boyfriends' house"
Sirius dropped his fork with a clatter on his plate. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend"!
"Well I met him when we went on holidays in London last month" She said a little nervously.
"How old is he"?
"Twenty one"
"Annie! Are you crazy"! Sirius yelled, though thankfully the chatter around them was so thick that no body except those sitting closest heard.
"Yes, I thought you already knew that"!
"I mean, what do you think your doing?! Staying at some guy's place that you hardly even know, who's what" he counted on his fingers "Four years older than you"!
"I know him very well thank you very much, his name is Ted Tonks, he was born on December 11th, he works at a muggle bank, likes to play hockey and has three freckles on the small of his back"!
"YOU KNOW THAT!"
"Yes I do!"
Sirius looked totally dumbfounded, and flustered at that until Lilly piped up.
"You know Sirius, it isn't that bad, considering how many girlfriends you've had AND what you do with them!" She pointed out, finally joining the conversation after listening to everything while pretending to be talking to Miria.
"How do YOU know that?"
"Oh trust me, I know everything, you don't honestly think that those girls come back and don't brag about how they had such a good time do you?" she said grinning mischievously.
"You know Padfoot, I think that was half a comment" Remus said looking up from his pie.
"It wasn't" Lilly said simply.
"Well if you ask me"-James started
"We didn't" Lilly interrupted.
James ignored her. "I think Padfoot here is being pleasantly concerned and protective in a brotherly way".
"Yeah, he's also being a hypocrite" Peter pointed out.
Sirius threw a potato at him, "No one asked you"!
Andromeda looked somewhat hurt by this outburst but hid the feeling almost as quickly as it came, "Where else was I suppose to go Sirius? To your house perhaps?"
"Of course not to MY house what are you nuts. That would be excellent, I disappear and the least favorite cousin turns up!"
"Then where Sirius go on tell me"? she demanded
"Well I don't know but not with him!"
"Ahhh. The intelligence of the Blacks is clouding his brain."
"Wait.. the Blacks have intelligence?" Lily said her eyes widening in disbelief.
"It is a curse I am afraid. All of the Blacks in Sirius' line are born with the same defined intelligence." Andromeda sighed, "If all else fails just disagree with the obvious.. Tis sad but true"
Lily sighed and looked at Sirius in pity. Sirius redder then a tomato by this point in time looked between Andromeda and Lily in silent disbelief.
"Are you two quite done discussing my intelligence"? Sirius asked quite dumbfounded.
"Actually Padfoot I think they are talking about your lack of intelligence" Remus stated.
"Excuse me?"
"They are discussing your mental capability, commenting on the intelligence which seems to be hereditary within your family, passed down from son to son and the disturbing fact that you have not yet broken away from this stereotypical black past time"
All seven fell dead silent. Sirius' face, completely blank, any thought completely erased from his face. James suddenly broke the silence.
"Moony" he said looking at his friend, "Do you know what the official world language is?" A blank look followed this question. "ENGLISH MOONY, ENGLISH!" he said exasperated. "Speak it!"
Remus sighed. "In other words... They all lent in expectantly....he's an idiot"
"Oh so that is what you meant, well that's sooo obvious"! Sirius said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And by the way I might like to remind you that I got second most OWL's in the year last year and yes Remus, I beat you! So don't give me stupid!"
At that very point in time Remus was gearing up for a retort but was stopped by Professor McGonagall who tapped him on the shoulder.
"Are you quite alright there you seven? I must say this is very unlikely, Miss. Evens are you going delusional; you're at least one meter within distance of Mr. Potter and his friends. But I am afraid to say that you have forgotten something"
They all looked around at the almost deserted hall, for the second time that day they were the last ones left. Suddenly Remus and Lilly both jumped out of their seats, Remus swearing under his breath.
"Yes, don't worry Mr. Lupin, the first years are waiting in the entrance hall for you both to lead them to the tower, but next time I am not covering for you" She said "and make sure you don't use that language around them either!". With that she swept past them and down back up to the staff table where she vanished through a door to the right.
Lilly and Remus ran into the entrance hall where the first years waited, looking rather nervous at that.
They lead them to Gryffindor tower where all the other Gryffindor'swere waiting for them to give the new password to the fat lady so they could get into the common room. They both apologized continuously while trying to get through the crowded corridor. Once everyone was inside Lilly told her two friends that she was really very tired and needed to get an early nights sleep, Miria went up to the girls dormitories with her as well, before saying goodnight to Andromeda. James, Remus and Peter went off to their own dormitory leaving the two cousins to catch up on all they had missed over the recent year.
######
Well that's it for that chapter folks! Just in case your wondering who exactly Andromeda is, if you look in the noble and most ancient house of black chapter in the 5th hp book, it has a family tree of Sirius'. Andromeda is Tonks' mother, Mrs. Malfoy's and Bellatrix Lestrange's sister and as Sirius says in the book, his favorite cousin. Thanks to my new reviewers also Agloechen, Christopher Nowinski and Shadow of Dreams (Laura). Well I hope you liked it!
~*~mysticaldreams
~*~mysticaldreams
Chapter 3: reunions
Lilly woke up early the next morning despite her restless night sleep.
From what she could gather, her sister had come back unreasonably late last night and her father hadn't been too impressed.
She checked her trunk to see if she had forgotten anything before she went downstairs to breakfast.
Her mother was waiting for her, trying unsuccessfully to hide her distressed expression.
"T-tea dear"?
"Yeah, thanks mum"
Mrs. Evens came back to the table with the teapot in her hands. She started to pour it into two brightly coloured cups but as she tipped it her hands started trembling uncontrollably and she spilt half of the tea on the table, missing the teacup all together.
It was only a few seconds until Lilly snapped out of her daydream and realized what her mother was doing.
"Mum"!
"Oh, I'm sorry dear" she said exasperated.
She sat back down and ran her fingers through her long, red, slightly graying hair.
"What's wrong"? Lilly asked soothingly.
"It's just Petunia" she said as if this explained everything, but the thing was that to Lilly, it did.
"She came back so late last night and she just wasn't herself, your father was furious"!
"I know, I heard him" Lilly said glumly.
"Sorry dear" she apologized again.
She shook her head. "Well come on, eat up! You need to be at the train station in half an hour".
Sure enough, in half an hour Lilly, Mrs. Evens and a very disgruntled Mr. Evens had pulled up in front of Kings Cross Station.
Lilly jumped out of the car bouncing with excitement. She hauled her trunk out of the boot and led the way to platforms nine and ten. The three of them stepped through the brick wall inconspicuously and fell into the throng of parents and students saying their goodbyes and boarding the train.
Mr. Evens former furious face had now been replaced with a beaming smile as he looked down at his sixteen year old daughter. Her gold and scarlet prefect badge was shinning proudly on her collar.
"Honey we're so proud of you" Mrs. Evens said hugging her daughter.
"Have a good year Lilly, we'll send you a letter telling you what we are doing for the holidays" Mr. Evens said embracing his daughter in a rib cracking hug.
They both helped her to get her trunk onto the train before saying their last goodbyes.
Lilly got onto the train, searching her apartments, trying to find her best friend.
She bustled down the corridors, lugging her trunk behind her, hoping to find her friend's compartment before the train started, however, while she was searching there was a soft chink on the floor and she looked down to realize that her prefect badge had dropped off her collar and the pin had broken. She cursed under her breath and bent down to retrieve it, though as she got up again she met the fright of a lifetime, her worst enemy was standing directly in front of her. She jumped back from him, disgust written all over her face. It was the hazel eyed, Jet black, ruffled haired wretch himself.
"Well look who's lived up to their expectations" James Potter said, grinning his spotless white teeth at Lilly, whilst looking at her broken prefect badge.
"Look who hasn't" she said smirking with satisfaction at his badge less collar.
"Now, now Lilly, there's no need to rub it in, though there isn't much to rub in, why would I want to be a prefect? It would take all the fun out of life"!
"Yes, well James, some people like rules, they keep arrogant prat's like yourself from annoying them"
"Rules were made to be broken" he retorted "and there's no need for the name calling".
"I'm only stating the obvious" she said smartly.
"That was harsh"
"Does it look like I care"?
"Don't worry, I know you do"
"Can't you just leave me alone"! She screamed
"You're so beautiful when you're angry you know"
"Argh! You're so infuriating"! She yelled.
A couple of heads appeared out of the compartment doors, looking curiously, waiting for the usual scream out between the two rivals that they had come accustomed to.
"Come on Lilly, we've been doing the same thing since first year, can't you keep your voice down, I mean, I honestly don't mind the attention but your really gonna give yourself a sore throat" he said matter of factly. "Besides, you're a prefect now, you have to live up to your responsibilities, and I don't think yelling at me is too responsible" he pointed out.
"You wouldn't know what responsibility was if it hit you on the head! Besides, you better be careful Potter, I may not be able to scream at you all the time anymore, but I can give out detentions" she said willingly.
"Detentions are a breeze, I can juggle"
"What homework"? She asked jokingly.
"Not school homework" he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Well I'm sorry but as much as a nice little chat this has been, I have to get off to the prefects meeting" Lilly said turning her back on him.
"Make sure you say hi to Remus for me when you get there won't you"? he called after her. She spun around, her red hair flying, he grinned at her and she turned and kept walking down the aisle.
Great! She hadn't completely gotten out of the annoyance of James! But at least it was Remus who was prefect and not Sirius, Remus was the better of the three, you couldn't really count Peter, the day Peter became prefect would be the day Petunia said she was a witch! Lilly thought to herself.
The train had started moving and had a surprisingly long time ago without Lilly even realizing it. She was worried she was going to be late for the meeting.
"Damn James"! She mumbled under her breath.
"What was that"? A friendly voice came from over her shoulder, she span around, and this time, standing in front of her was a tall, brown, shoulder length haired girl with freckles sprinkled all over her nose.
"Hey Miria"
"I thought I heard your calm, cool and collected voice drifting down the corridor" she said with a cheeky grin. "But you know, he does have a point, you are a prefect now and screaming at him isn't gonna set a very good example, but then again, I guess I could do that for you" she said looking proudly up at her friend.
"You know I don't do it on purpose, he provokes me"! Lilly said.
Miria just nodded, knowing that agreeing with her friend would be the best way of getting herself out of trouble. They walked down the hall and sidled into a compartment. It was empty other than a large trunk that held the gyffindor crest in the baggage rack and a small black kitten curled up on the seat, purring loudly.
"Awww who's cat"? Lilly asked
"She's mine, her names Ashes" Miria replied.
"Oh she's adorable, when did you get her"?
"I got her for my birthday from me mum"
Lilly walked up to the kitten and started patting it as it purred.
"Oh my god"! Lilly suddenly shrieked, "I'm supposed to be at the prefect's meeting! I'm already late!". She ran towards the compartment door.
"Lilly the meeting isn't until half past" Miria reminded her.
"Oh yeah, I forgot"
She slumped down onto the leather seat and Ashes jumped onto her lap. With the realization that her broken prefect badge was still crumpled in her hand she took her wand out of her robes and muttered 'repairo'. The pin became one again and she fastened it back onto her collar.
"So, Lupin the boy, Gryiffindor prefect"? Miria asked
"Yeah, at least it's better than that other scum, I honestly don't understand wh"-Lilly cut off abruptly as there was a knock on the compartment door. A girl with waist long, silky black hair and chocolate brown eyes stood in the doorway. Something about her appearance was oddly familiar but Lilly couldn't decide what.
" Um, would I be able to sit with you, all the other compartments are full"? She asked.
"Yeah sure"! Lilly and Miria said in unison.
The girl slid her trunk in the luggage rack and sat down next to Lilly.
"Thanks, my names Andromeda, but you can call me Annie for short, what's yours"?
"Lilly"
"Miria"
"So, you new here"? Miria asked Andromeda.
"Yeah, I transferred from Durmstrang"
"Really! I've read a lot about that school. Why did you leave"? Lilly asked
"I hated it there! But mostly family problems" she said grimly.
"Oh, I'm sorry"
"Nah, that's ok, besides, I've wanted to come here since I started school"
She snatched a look at Lilly's prefect badge and then asked "So are you both in Gryffindor"?
"Yeah, 6th year" Miria answered.
"Really! Me too! I mean I really hope I'll be in Gryffindor, but I'm in but I'm in 6th year, though I'm turning seventeen this year"
"Did you start school late"? Lilly asked confused.
"Yeah"
"I didn't know you could do that" Miria queried.
"Well if you couldn't, my mother made it possible" Andromeda replied frowning.
Lilly decided to turn the conversation around from what she had heard; Andromeda didn't really want to talk about her family.
"Ok, I'll give you a couple of tips" Lilly said to her.
"Alright, what sort"?
"The sort that keep you away from annoyance and disaster at Hogwarts"
"I could definitely do with some of them, I'm dead clumsy"!
"Don't worry, so am I" Miria put in with a smile.
"Number one tip, stay as far away from the Marauders as possible"
"What are the Marauders"?
"A group of four boys that reek havoc around the school" Miria said
"May I also say that they are all arrogant prats and don't deserve to be in Gryffindor" Lilly said indignantly.
"How do I know who they are"?
"I'll point them out to you" Lilly said.
"Tip number two, if you can avoid it, don't talk to any of the Slytherins"
"I've heard about them, horrible people" she said screwing up her nose.
"Tip number three, don't go into the 3rd floor lavatory, a ghost called Moaning Myrtle floods it about once a week"
"And last but not least, stay away from the caretakers cat Mrs. Norris" Lilly finished.
"Oh yeah, and try and stay away from Peeves, though there's no avoiding him when he's after you" Miria said.
"Thanks, I'll try and remember all that"
"Oh shit! Look at the time! I have to get off to the Prefect's carriage, I'll see you when I get back" Lilly took off out the door with one swift wave of the hand and headed off to the meeting.
~*~
The rest of the train ride was highly enjoyable for the three girls. Lilly and Miria got to know Andromeda a lot better and by the time the train had pulled up at Hogsmeade station they were all talking to one another like long friends.
The three of them got off the train and pushed their way through the mingled crowd.
"Ok Annie, here they are" Lilly whispered in Andromeda's ear as she caught sight of the Marauders coming down the platform.
"I now introduce you to the arrogant gits of a century"! Lilly began her commentary.
"First, and the farthest one to the left" she pointed out, "is the whimpering, whining Peter Pettigrew". Andromeda's eyes fell onto a short and skinny boy with mousy brown hair plastered onto his head. He was talking to a tall, ruffled looking boy with brown hair.
"That's Remus Lupin, he's a Gryffindor Prefect with me, you can handle him on his own"
Lilly gave a tremendous sigh. "And the next one along is the most pig headed of them all, James Potter" She said with disgust, spitting out his name like a disease.
"Yeah, if you want some entertainment watch them two fight, it happens at least once every two days" Miria whispered to Andromeda.
Lilly threw her a death stare but kept going. "And standing next to him is the trusty sidekick S"---
"SIRIUS"! Andromeda squealed.
Sirius span around, looking for the person who had called his name, but he got his answer suddenly as Andromeda ran up and caught him in a tight hug.
He looked down at the girls silky black hair and it was only then that Lilly saw the familiar qualities that Annie and Sirius held, they both had silky black hair and the same chocolate brown eyes.
"Annie"! He said rather perplexed returning the hug.
He lifted her off her feet and spun her around joyously. A couple of people turned their heads in the crowd and Marauders and Lilly and Miria all looked on with confused expressions.
"How did you get here"? Sirius asked laughing.
"I copied your idea, I hope you don't mind"
"You ran"?
"No, I flew"
He laughed again and put her back down on the ground.
"Another long lost girlfriend Padfoot"? Remus asked mockingly
"No" they both said in unison.
"Well would you care to explain"? He asked.
"This is my cousin, you know, Andromeda, the one I told you about"?
"Er Padfoot, do you realize exactly how many cousins you have"? James said looking bemused.
"Not those filthy excuses for cousins, the cousins that actually matter, you know, the good ones".
"Oh" They all chorused together.
"I'm sorry but I still don't follow" Lilly said looking at them all.
"That's because your head isn't big enough" James said carelessly
"Oh opposed to your overlarge head that inflates every two seconds" she snapped.
"Ehem" everyone turned their heads towards Peter and he looked a little embarrassed at having all the attention.
"Erm, we're kinda gonna be late"
They looked around at the almost deserted platform.
"Oh shit"! Andromeda cursed, "I was supposed to go across the lake with the first years"! She looked over at the fleet of boats already a quarter of the way across the shining water.
"Ahwell, looks loke you'll be coming with us"! Sirius said happily.
Lilly looked at the now deserted platform and the one carriage that was left, waiting for them.
"Great" Lilly mumbled.
"What"?
"We're going to have to try and fit seven people in one carriage fit for four" Lilly replied.
"Well that's easy Evens; you can sit on my lap"! James said grinning.
"Get a life Potter; I'll walk if that's the way it will turn out". She turned briskly on her heel and marched straight to the carriage.
It turned out that Lilly sat wedged between Peter and Remus, Andromeda sat on Sirius' knees and James and Miria stood doubled over against the carriage wall.
They arrived late at the towering castle, but just in time for Andromeda to join the line of first years, lead by professor McGonagall, ready to get sorted into their houses.
They all whispered her good luck before they crept as inconspicuously as possible into the great hall and up to the Gryffindor table. Lilly thought she saw Dumbledore glance at her and wink but thrust it out of her head as the first years and Andromeda walked into the great hall. She stood out like a sore thumb in the midst of the first years, being so tall, but she held her head high as people whispered, wondering who she was.
Professor McGonagall placed the wooden stool on ground in front of the staff table and sat the battered and patched sorting hat on top of it. She unrolled the long piece of parchment with the new student's names on it and gave the usual instructions to place the hat on top of their head and wait for their house to be decided.
Their was a moment of silence, until suddenly the hat burst out in song, describing all the houses and their qualities and finishing with a smart rhyme of how he would sort them. When the song had finished the rip in the hat closed into the dusty material and Professor McGonagall started to call out the long list of names.
"Blooms, Mary-lea" Professor McGonagall called, and a short girl with curly blond hair protruded from the crowd looking very nervous, and a little bit frightened. She sat upon the stool and propped the sorting hat on her head, which fell over her ears and half covered her eyes.
"HUFFLEPUFF"! The hat shouted and a chorus of applause and whistles erupted from the Hufflepuff table.
The list went on and slowly the group in the middle of the hall shrunk as the new students were placed into their houses. The last first year was called up (Jimmy Goodswing) and placed in Ravenclaw and there was only Andromeda left standing by herself.
"Black, Andromeda" Professor McGonagall called, and a couple of people at the Gryffindor table turned their heads to Sirius at hearing the familiar last name as it was screamed often down the hallways by teachers.
Andromeda walked up to the stool and sat down, placing the hat onto her head. There was what felt like a whole minute of silence that followed and everyone waited in baited breath. The hat finally opened the rip near its brim and yelled clearly:
"GRYFFINDOR"! The small group of seven, if possible made the loudest noise in the hall, Sirius and James making wild cat calls and jumping out of their seats.
Andromeda bounced happily off the stool and ran down to join her friends, taking a spot at the table in between Lilly and Sirius. The applause died down and everyone fell silent as Albus Dumbledore, the school headmaster stood to speak.
"Welcome back everyone" His voice rang clearly throughout the hall, "and a special welcome to our first years and a new sixth year who has joined us, welcome Andromeda. I don't want to bore you on an empty stomach, so eat up"! And with that the usual, enormous quantities of freshly baked food appeared on the tables in front of them, and they all ate happily.
"So, 'ow did 'oo find ou'I ran away"? Sirius asked Andromeda with a mouthful of stuffed potato in his mouth.
"Oh, you know on the grape vine, it was a bit obvious when your mother's head turned up in the fireplace, blasting curses everywhere, thinking that you were hiding out at our place"
Sirius laughed, "yeah, I could imagine that".
"When did you run"?
"Oh, about the last week of the holidays, I got my broomstick out, and I flew"
"Oh, you like flying! What kind of broom do you ha"--- James was cut off in his eager attempt.
"Prongs"! Sirius said "Ask her later"!
"Fine" James said huffily.
"You couldn't have flown all the way from your place to here"! Sirius exclaimed, now munching on a chicken leg.
"No, I stopped in at Uncle Alphard's. He set me up a port key"
"Ah, dear Uncle Alphard! Always setting up unauthorized plans, such a good rebel!"
"Yeah, he gave me a generous amount of gold too"!
"Well considering the amount of expensive stolen goods he has for trade, I wouldn't be surprised! So where are you staying"?
"Well I'll be of age in November so I'm thinking of getting my own place, but I've been staying at my boyfriends' house"
Sirius dropped his fork with a clatter on his plate. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend"!
"Well I met him when we went on holidays in London last month" She said a little nervously.
"How old is he"?
"Twenty one"
"Annie! Are you crazy"! Sirius yelled, though thankfully the chatter around them was so thick that no body except those sitting closest heard.
"Yes, I thought you already knew that"!
"I mean, what do you think your doing?! Staying at some guy's place that you hardly even know, who's what" he counted on his fingers "Four years older than you"!
"I know him very well thank you very much, his name is Ted Tonks, he was born on December 11th, he works at a muggle bank, likes to play hockey and has three freckles on the small of his back"!
"YOU KNOW THAT!"
"Yes I do!"
Sirius looked totally dumbfounded, and flustered at that until Lilly piped up.
"You know Sirius, it isn't that bad, considering how many girlfriends you've had AND what you do with them!" She pointed out, finally joining the conversation after listening to everything while pretending to be talking to Miria.
"How do YOU know that?"
"Oh trust me, I know everything, you don't honestly think that those girls come back and don't brag about how they had such a good time do you?" she said grinning mischievously.
"You know Padfoot, I think that was half a comment" Remus said looking up from his pie.
"It wasn't" Lilly said simply.
"Well if you ask me"-James started
"We didn't" Lilly interrupted.
James ignored her. "I think Padfoot here is being pleasantly concerned and protective in a brotherly way".
"Yeah, he's also being a hypocrite" Peter pointed out.
Sirius threw a potato at him, "No one asked you"!
Andromeda looked somewhat hurt by this outburst but hid the feeling almost as quickly as it came, "Where else was I suppose to go Sirius? To your house perhaps?"
"Of course not to MY house what are you nuts. That would be excellent, I disappear and the least favorite cousin turns up!"
"Then where Sirius go on tell me"? she demanded
"Well I don't know but not with him!"
"Ahhh. The intelligence of the Blacks is clouding his brain."
"Wait.. the Blacks have intelligence?" Lily said her eyes widening in disbelief.
"It is a curse I am afraid. All of the Blacks in Sirius' line are born with the same defined intelligence." Andromeda sighed, "If all else fails just disagree with the obvious.. Tis sad but true"
Lily sighed and looked at Sirius in pity. Sirius redder then a tomato by this point in time looked between Andromeda and Lily in silent disbelief.
"Are you two quite done discussing my intelligence"? Sirius asked quite dumbfounded.
"Actually Padfoot I think they are talking about your lack of intelligence" Remus stated.
"Excuse me?"
"They are discussing your mental capability, commenting on the intelligence which seems to be hereditary within your family, passed down from son to son and the disturbing fact that you have not yet broken away from this stereotypical black past time"
All seven fell dead silent. Sirius' face, completely blank, any thought completely erased from his face. James suddenly broke the silence.
"Moony" he said looking at his friend, "Do you know what the official world language is?" A blank look followed this question. "ENGLISH MOONY, ENGLISH!" he said exasperated. "Speak it!"
Remus sighed. "In other words... They all lent in expectantly....he's an idiot"
"Oh so that is what you meant, well that's sooo obvious"! Sirius said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And by the way I might like to remind you that I got second most OWL's in the year last year and yes Remus, I beat you! So don't give me stupid!"
At that very point in time Remus was gearing up for a retort but was stopped by Professor McGonagall who tapped him on the shoulder.
"Are you quite alright there you seven? I must say this is very unlikely, Miss. Evens are you going delusional; you're at least one meter within distance of Mr. Potter and his friends. But I am afraid to say that you have forgotten something"
They all looked around at the almost deserted hall, for the second time that day they were the last ones left. Suddenly Remus and Lilly both jumped out of their seats, Remus swearing under his breath.
"Yes, don't worry Mr. Lupin, the first years are waiting in the entrance hall for you both to lead them to the tower, but next time I am not covering for you" She said "and make sure you don't use that language around them either!". With that she swept past them and down back up to the staff table where she vanished through a door to the right.
Lilly and Remus ran into the entrance hall where the first years waited, looking rather nervous at that.
They lead them to Gryffindor tower where all the other Gryffindor'swere waiting for them to give the new password to the fat lady so they could get into the common room. They both apologized continuously while trying to get through the crowded corridor. Once everyone was inside Lilly told her two friends that she was really very tired and needed to get an early nights sleep, Miria went up to the girls dormitories with her as well, before saying goodnight to Andromeda. James, Remus and Peter went off to their own dormitory leaving the two cousins to catch up on all they had missed over the recent year.
######
Well that's it for that chapter folks! Just in case your wondering who exactly Andromeda is, if you look in the noble and most ancient house of black chapter in the 5th hp book, it has a family tree of Sirius'. Andromeda is Tonks' mother, Mrs. Malfoy's and Bellatrix Lestrange's sister and as Sirius says in the book, his favorite cousin. Thanks to my new reviewers also Agloechen, Christopher Nowinski and Shadow of Dreams (Laura). Well I hope you liked it!
~*~mysticaldreams