Friend of the Marauders

A/N: This story's going to be from the POV of a character I've made up myself…But she's going to go to Hogwarts and meet the Marauders, so there's going to be plenty of fun stuff to write about here! :p

This is my first fanfic in a few years, so bear with me if I'm kind of out of touch. I'm hoping I've gotten to be a better writer. If anyone wants to compare for me, look at my profile and read one of my fics…Disguised or The Marauders of Hogwarts series are the best.

If you think this is any good, please review and tell me!

Disclaimer: All the Marauders are the property of J.K. Rowling…The acceptance letter, Diagon Alley, and many insignificant details are as well. :) Diana, however, is my original character, and Ms. Rowling's not getting her! (fierce glare) Heh. If there are any inaccuracies about the school system or whatnot in England, I'm sorry, but I live in the US and I'm doing the best I can.

Chapter 1

Diana

Diana Castillo had a pretty boring life. She didn't have many friends, and she barely left the house except to go to school. She would have been very pale from never spending any time outside if it hadn't been for her Mexican heritage; as it was, she was half-Mexican and her face was a normal color, but had a sallow tinge to it. Her eyes and hair were dark brown and accented her pale-ish face. All this had caused her to become somewhat depressed with her life, and wonder if people would ever just accept her for who she was. Yes, Diana had a boring life…up until the summer after she turned eleven.

It was July. Diana wasn't really looking forward to going to school again in September, but what was she going to do about it? It happened every year whether she liked it or not. She sighed, throwing the paper airplane she'd just made. It looped lazily in the air, then abruptly plummeted to the floor by her bed. She couldn't even make paper airplanes that went anywhere. What kind of reject was she?

And on top of that, strange things always seemed to happen around her. Once, she'd been talking to Catherine Finn, a girl she disliked quite a bit and who probably disliked her just as much, when suddenly Catherine's glasses had flown off her face, landed on the floor, and were crushed to pieces by an unsuspecting boy who passed by and stepped on them. Everyone concluded that the glasses must have fallen off because Catherine bent her head or something, but Diana had been watching, and Catherine's head hadn't moved from its usual held-high position. And really, it had seemed like the glasses had just flown off on their own. Diana shuddered. She didn't feel like remembering that. She always felt like she'd caused that somehow, which made her feel horrible…But she couldn't have. It just wasn't possible. She hadn't touched Catherine's glasses at all.

Diana sighed again.

Suddenly, she heard a yell. "Diana!" It was her sister, Corinna. "Letter for you!"

"Be right down!" Diana yelled back. Diana's family just liked to yell from different rooms instead of speaking. When they spoke they tended to fight, because they were all very stubborn people. However, they didn't hate each other.

Diana dragged herself up from her bed and went downstairs. "Letter?" she asked her sister, who was making herself lunch in the kitchen.

"On the table," Corinna answered.

Diana went over to the table and found the letter addressed to her. It looked rather odd. The address was this:

Diana Castillo

The White and Blue Room

8 Crestwood Drive

London

It was written in green ink, and the envelope wasn't made of regular paper. It was made of…parchment? And how did whoever sent it know that her bedroom was blue and white? It had two blue walls and two white walls. The bed was blue, but the desk was white…And so on…How did anyone know where she slept in the first place??

Maybe it was some sort of joke from one of her friends…She couldn't see a return address. Or a stamp. Now that was definitely odd.

"Did the postman deliver this?" she asked her sister. "It hasn't got a stamp."

"Actually," her sister said thoughtfully, "now that you mention it, it was on the front porch. Who's it from?"

"I don't know yet. No return address either." Diana turned it over to open it. Even odder: the envelope had a wax seal on the back. Who did that anymore? It had an odd design on it: four animals surrounding a letter H.

Well, whatever. Diana ripped it open, took out the letter, and began to read. The letter was also written on parchment. It said:

HOGWARTS SCHOOL

of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards)

What? This had to be a joke.

Dear Miss Castillo,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You will find enclosed a list of all the necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

Deputy Headmistress

Diana blinked. Stared. Read it again. Stared again. WHAT?

She took out the list. Spellbooks, wands, no broomsticks for first years…She read all these details with growing astonishment. Surely this was too elaborate to be a joke. But if it wasn't…What did this mean? Was she a…a witch?

"So who's it from?" Corinna said.

Diana started. "Erm…I think it must be a joke. It's nothing." She stuffed the letter hastily back into the envelope. Corinna would think her sister was going mad if Diana told the truth.

Was it a joke? If it wasn't…what was Diana going to do?

Diana's Aunt Margarita came to visit that evening. That was the sort of thing Aunt Rita—which was Diana's nickname for her—did. She liked to show up with no warning. But she always brought a small present to quell the objections of Diana's parents, and Diana liked her. She was an eccentric lady, who owned a menagerie of animals, was a small-time fashion designer, and never cared what people thought of her. Margarita was Diana's father's sister. They came from a rich Mexican family that had moved to England. Diana's parents had met when her father's family moved to London.

"Hello, Laura," Aunt Margarita said when she showed up at the door.

"Margarita," Diana's mother began, "couldn't you have given us a bit more—Oh, I say, that's some good wine you've got!"

"Yes, I knew you liked this kind," Aunt Rita said, beaming. And she was let in without further question. Diana grinned.

At dinner, the food was delicious, as usual. Diana's mother was a superb cook. Personally, Diana thought she could have done better at that than at her actual job: translating boring health documents in French and Spanish. She probably would have enjoyed it more too.

"So, Diana," Aunt Rita said, "you're eleven."

"Yes, I am," Diana said, grinning at her aunt across the table. She'd gotten cash and a hat designed by her aunt. "Thanks for the presents, Aunt Rita."

"So…have you gotten any interesting mail lately?" Her aunt smiled.

Diana gaped. Was Aunt Rita talking about the letter she'd gotten today? Then she thought of something. "Was it you who sent me that?"

Her aunt laughed. "Oh no, it wasn't me. It was sent by some friends of mine though…"

Everyone else at the table looked very confused. What were the two of them talking about?

"Wait…is it a joke then?" Diana asked.

"Oh no!" Aunt Rita exclaimed. "It's really true." She paused, beaming. "Welcome to my world, Diana!"

"Oh my God…" Diana murmured. It was true?? She couldn't believe this…

"What's true, Rita?" Diana's dad demanded.

"Well, Alejandro, your daughter's a witch."

This caused a shocked silence.

"WHAT?" This word erupted from my mother and sister at the same time.

"Oh," my father said, in a surprised voice. "Like you are?"

"WHAT?" everyone else, including Diana, said.

"Well, yes," Aunt Rita said.

Diana closed her eyes. She was having a hard time taking this in.

"A witch?" her mother repeated.

Diana opened her eyes again. Clearly she couldn't have any peace at the moment. "Yes, Mum. I got a letter." She fished it out of her pocket, where she'd stuffed it earlier in the day, and handed it to her mother.

Her mother read the letter, her eyes getting wider with every line. "This…this is impossible!"

"Oh, no, definitely not," Aunt Rita said. She seemed to be enjoying this. "I wondered if one of you girls would be one. That school told me they were sending Diana a letter this month, and I was so excited!"

Corinna snatched the letter from her mother and began to read it.

"Then…Aunt Rita?"

"Yes, Diana?"

"What does 'we await your owl' mean?" she asked.

"Oh, you have to send a letter by owl saying you're coming on September 1st, and they'll send you your train ticket."

"Train ticket?"

"Well, yes. It's a boarding school. You've got to go there on the Hogwarts Express."

Corinna, meanwhile, had put the letter down and was sitting there in shock. So was her mother. Her father was smiling at her though. Diana decided to leave them for the moment and continue asking questions.

"Oh, I see. But how am I going to get all these supplies?"

"Diagon Alley. Not too far away, and they've got everything you'll need.

Diana was overwhelmed. "Could you help me with all this, Aunt Rita? I mean, since you're a witch?"

"Of course!"

Life was going to be very different from now on…

A/N: Well, that was the first chapter. Tell me if you liked it! If not…you can do whatever you want, I guess. Review, don't review…whatever. But if you liked it, REVIEW!!!! Heh.