Disclaimer: We do not own The Marauders or the world of Harry Potter, but
then you already knew that didn't you? They are the creations of J.K.
Rowling. We still do not own, Elijah Wood or Jhonen Vasquez, either.
Sadly, or so it is rumored, they belong to themselves.
Author's Note: Padfoot would also like to apologize for the long wait, and would like to thank Francis, Prongs, and Moony, without which, none of this would have been possible. : )
The Adventures of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
::Year One::
Chapter Six:
Sirius
By: Padfoot
"James?" I whispered, keeping my eyes on Professor Binns, the transparent figure at the front of the room. "James?" Turning to look at my best friend, I spotted the reason he hadn't answered me. He was fast asleep. The candlelight playing on his features combined with his closed eyes, really created a beautiful effect, for the moment making him seem an ethereal being. I thought about leaning over and nudging him awake, but looking back to the front of the room, I saw Professor Binns droning on, as unaware of his slumbering student, it appeared, as he was of his own death. Figuring there was little chance of him getting in to trouble, I decided to let him sleep. To my right, Remus was scribbling madly. Glancing down at the boy's roll of parchment, I was shocked to see he had covered several feet in his small, perfect handwriting.
"Did you do all this today?" I asked quietly, in mild disbelief.
"No," he replied, not pausing in his note taking. "This class."
On Remus's other side, I saw Peter watching two students in the front row pass a note back and forth. I wasn't surprised. Peter always seemed to be watching everyone. Hell, even with us, his friends, he seemed to always be in the background, listening, gathering information and filing it away in his mind, like a rat storing little pieces of food for winter. It was kind of creepy. If I had had anything to hide, it would've made me nervous. Lucky for me I didn't... well, not really, nothing he would have cared to know about.
Hearing a noise to my left, I turned back to James, who had begun to mumble incoherently. "James," I reached over and shook him a bit until I saw his brown eyes flutter open.
"Hmm?" he asked, stifling a yawn.
At that moment, Professor Binns must have dismissed the class, because, suddenly, students were all getting to their feet and gathering their stuff, preparing to leave.
James stood up, stretching out his arms. "Looks like class is over," he said, a smile crossing his handsome features.
"What are we doing now?" I asked the other three as we all gathered near the class room door.
"We should get started on our homework." Remus said, shouldering his bag. "The more we get done now, the less we have to do before bed."
"That's funny," James said with a laugh, clapping Remus on the back. "I thought you said something about doing homework... You're a very funny boy." He reached into his pocket, pulling out four auto-answer quills. He handed one to each of us, keeping one for himself. "That takes care of that... Now, I need your help on something," he said, seriously. "I have to get the golden Snitch!"
"The what?" Remus asked, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Oh yeah, I forgot that you don't have Quidditch in the muggle world!" James exclaimed as we all exited the room. We made our way down the corridor towards the Gryffindor common room, while James explained to Remus the wonders and complexities of Quidditch.
As we neared the portrait of the Fat Lady, Remus interrupted him. "Why do you need our help to get the Snitch?"
"There hasn't been a first year seeker in nearly a century! They'd never let me on the team. As a matter of fact, first years aren't even allowed to try out!"
"Okay..." Remus still didn't seem to understand.
I, however, knowing how James's mind worked, had already put two and two together. "If he steals the Snitch, they won't have it to play with. If he can't play, why should they be able to?"
"And, besides," James replied. "I want that Snitch!"
James, Peter, and I set about plotting a way to get the snitch while our auto-answer quills completed our homework. Remus did his the old fashioned way.
By the time dinner started, we had come up with a plan... there was a slight flaw in it, though. The plan involved James using the invisibility cloak to steal the snitch during the first game... one small problem though. First years weren't allowed brooms, so there we were, broomless.
"Icouldborrowsomeone'sbroom..."James said through a mouthful of shepherd's pie.
"'Borrow'?" I asked, pausing in my eating long enough to get the word out.
"Yeah, you know, stealing with every intention of giving back..." James replied, swallowing.
"Oh, right. Borrowing..."
"Whose broomstick are you planning on taking? Arthur would probably lend you his," Remus suggested.
"No good," I said, answering for James, whose mouth was once again full. "Arthur is on the Quidditch team. The first game is almost always between Gryffindor and Slytherin... Oh! I know who we can borrow a broomstick from!" I exclaimed. "It's so obvious! I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner! Andromeda! She's on the Ravenclaw team. I'll talk to her after dinner, I know she'll help us."
After dinner was through I stopped Andromeda in the hall and pulled her aside.
"'Ello Sirius!" she greeted me, cheerful and upbeat, as usual. "How was your first day of classes?"
"Umm, they went well. I was wondering, though, if sometime I could borrow your broom."
"Sure, when?"
"I don't know yet, but I'll let you know."
"Okay... Sirius, you're not planning on getting in to any trouble, are you?"
"That depends... If I were could I still borrow your broom?"
"Sirius!"
"Just kidding!"
"Uh-huh... I'm not sure I believe you, in fact I'm absolutely positive you're lying, but you can still borrow it. You just better not get caught."
"Have I ever?"
"Yes, or perhaps you've forgotten all the times you're mother has caught you and Bella pulling stunts..."
"But, that wasn't fair! She uses Veritaserum!"
"True, true..." At that moment she was distracted by someone calling her name down the hall. "Well, listen, I've got to go, but you can borrow my broom anytime, as long as I don't need it for a Quidditch match or practice."
"Thanks! Did I ever tell you that you're my favorite cousin?"
"Thanks, but considering my competition for the title, it's not nearly as flattering as it should be! Talk to you later!" And with that she went off to join her friends.
I was headed back to the Common Room to join the others, when I spotted a familiar face, amid a group of Slytherins. "Severus!" I shouted, waving a hand over my head, so he could find me. I watched as he said something to Lucius Malfoy and the older boy frowned in reply. I was beginning to think he wasn't coming over, when he left the group.
"'Ello Sirius," he greeted me with a smile.
"Snivelly," I replied. He and James were my cousins, James on my mother's side, and Snivelly on my fathers, so the three of us had been friends long before we ever met Peter, or the other kids we had grown up with. My mother would kill me if she ever heard me acknowledge James as my cousin. She had disowned her sister when Dad left, I suppose out of some sense of jealousy, because 'Mrs. Potter's marriage was still intact. I don't really know. But, Snivelly's mom was still the closest thing to a friend my mother had ever had, so it was only natural that their children would play together.
His nickname was a result of two three year-olds inability to pronounce a name like Severus. And once you've been dubbed with a name like Snivellus, it doesn't take long to shorten it. "What're you doing in Slytherin?"
"It's a blessing really. Can you imagine what my parents would've said if I hadn't?"
"Yup, I bet it'll be similar to the Howler I get from my mum tomorrow."
This provoked a laugh, and he gave a nod. "Narcissa keeps going on about the shame you and her sisters have brought down on the name of the Black family."
"I'll bet that's not all she's said. Personally, she's the only one of the three I can't stand."
Severus looked back at them, as if to be sure Lucius couldn't hear our conversation.
"What're you doing hanging out with them?" I asked. He just shrugged. "You better not be going dark on us!" I joked, laughing.
He smiled. "I better get back to the Common Room, lots of homework." With that he walked back to join Lucius's entourage.
I started to ask if he'd seen Bella, but he was out of reach before I could form the question. With a sigh, I turned around and hurried to meet James, Remus and Peter in the Gryffindor common room.
When I got there I found James reading his tattered copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages'. Remus had resumed working on his homework. Peter was studying James with, what appeared to be, an unhealthy amount of interest. Arthur was sitting on a couch in front of the fireplace with his girlfriend Molly. Elijah and Jhonen, two first years, were busy with a game of Wizard's chess. There were a few other Gryffindors there I didn't recognize.
Crossing the room to where my friends were sitting, I stretched out next to James on the loveseat, and reached over to seize his book.
"Hey! I was reading that! Oh, hello Sirius! How'd it go with Andromeda?"
"We can borrow it whenever we need to," I told him, flipping through the book, "as long as she doesn't need it for practice or a match."
"They better not switch things up, and make the first match Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw," James said, reaching for his book.
I was too quick for him and stuck it behind me in the loveseat. James didn't hesitate to reach forward and attack me, digging his fingers in to my sides, one of my most ticklish spots. "James! Ah! No!" I screamed, between gasps of air, sliding down the couch, so I was flat on my back. James took advantage of this new position, attacking my sides with a renewed vengeance. "Stop! I'll give you your book, just stop!" James, either not hearing this, or just not caring, continued his tickling, until I was nearly purple in the face. While I was busy struggling to catch my breath, James reached over me, burying his hand into the seat and grabbing his book.
"That's what you get for taking my book," James replied, settling back in his seat, and opening the book back up.
"All that for your book? What would you do if I took something like your invisibility cloak?"
James lowered the book, his eyes narrowed in an adorably threatening glare. "Do you really want to find that one out?"
"Maybe I do," I replied, not knowing quite what to expect. James did nothing however, just going back to reading. I sat back in the loveseat, trying to mask my disappointment. Looking over I saw that Remus had put his homework away, probably finished. Beside him, Peter was not looking too happy. If looks could kill( damn... Glancing around the room I saw Elijah and Jhonen still deeply enthralled in their chess match. I watched as Molly and Arthur slipped out the entrance past the Fat Lady. "Wonder where my cousins are slipping off to(" I remarked, with a snicker.
James put his book down. "I bet I know."
It was on the tip of my tongue to say, "I bet you do," when Peter interrupted.
"I'm going up to bed." It wasn't quite nine yet, and bed wasn't until 10:00.
"He can be so strange sometimes!" I remarked, after Peter had disappeared up the stairs. "All he does is sit there and watch everyone( and he always seems mad at me." I didn't include the way he was always staring at James. "Hey, Remus, how is your leg feeling?" So much had happened that day that I had almost completely forgotten about his accident in our first flying lesson.
"It feels much better, thanks. Madame Pomfrey healed my leg in no time at all."
"It takes forever for bones to heal the muggle way!" I exclaimed remembering an unpleasant incident from a couple of years back, involving the tallest tree in my backyard and a nasty fall. "And, it hurts too!"
"Yeah... I've had a few broken bones over the years... It's no delight."
"Can you believe that Peter's already been given Remedial Potions?!? After just one day of class..." I laughed.
"Leave Petey alone." James said, scowling at me.
"Oh, C'mon!"
To be perfectly honest, perhaps I was being a bit meaner than his behavior, no his mere existence, warranted, but I was just trying to keep myself occupied, doing anything, just so I wouldn't have to think about what lie ahead.
It had happened earlier that afternoon, our last class of the day. James and I had been joking around as always, and I never saw the Potions professor enter the room. As he did and moved to the front of the classroom, a hush came over the class, as if even those who didn't know who he was, knew what he was capable of. I had seen his name on the schedule, but somehow, my mind, perhaps caught up in everything else going on, hadn't put the two together. Professor Riddle. Tom Riddle. The Dark Lord. They were all the same.
I hadn't known he was a teacher at Hogwarts. Perhaps, if I had, I would not have been so eager to come. He held many of us back after class, myself included. It seemed we were to have weekly meetings. I didn't care what he threatened me with. I wouldn't go. I refused.
Trying to put these thoughts out of my mind, I concentrated on what James and Remus were saying.
"I wouldn't hang out with him if I were you," James was saying, a scowl on his face. I didn't have to ask who he was talking about. Remus had spent a lot of the day with a Ravenclaw boy named Evan Thornsburry that I had been friends with for several years. It was bothering me to see the two of them together, too, but for entirely different reasons than James... not that I knew James' reasoning. He and Peter hadn't liked Evan since the summer from the year before, though I never knew why.
I had been upset because... well to put it simply, I really liked Remus, really liked him, and I didn't like the idea of him spending so much time with Evan.
"Why?" Remus asked. "He seems like a perfectly nice boy." Something about the tone of his voice made it sound as if he were hiding something.
James didn't answer the question just shrugged. "Now about getting the snitch..."
The three of us hung out in the common room, talking until a little after 10:00, working on our plan to capture the snitch. At ten-thirty, a side door opened. I didn't know where it lead, but I expected it to be Molly and Arthur returning, but the head that popped in was Ms. McGonagall's. "Ah, a few past-bed-time stragglers, I see. Off to bed with the three of you."
With sighs, Remus, James and I made our way to our room. Peter and Frank were already fast asleep, their bed curtains pulled tightly shut. Remus went to the bathroom to change, but James and I didn't bother. We'd been changing in front of one another for as long as I could remember. No sense becoming modest now, not that I've ever been particularly modest.
Climbing into my own bed, I left my curtains open, watching as James and Remus took to their beds on either side of me. They were both quite attractive, really. James with his messy black hair, and his glasses... I'd had a crush on him for quite awhile... But, there was something about this new boy I couldn't quite put my finger on. He was cute, in a scruffy puppy sort of way, but there was something else there too. Something about his golden eyes...
I tried to push these thoughts to the back of my mind. I rolled over and closed my eyes, but sleep wouldn't come.
Author's Note: Padfoot would also like to apologize for the long wait, and would like to thank Francis, Prongs, and Moony, without which, none of this would have been possible. : )
The Adventures of Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs
::Year One::
Chapter Six:
Sirius
By: Padfoot
"James?" I whispered, keeping my eyes on Professor Binns, the transparent figure at the front of the room. "James?" Turning to look at my best friend, I spotted the reason he hadn't answered me. He was fast asleep. The candlelight playing on his features combined with his closed eyes, really created a beautiful effect, for the moment making him seem an ethereal being. I thought about leaning over and nudging him awake, but looking back to the front of the room, I saw Professor Binns droning on, as unaware of his slumbering student, it appeared, as he was of his own death. Figuring there was little chance of him getting in to trouble, I decided to let him sleep. To my right, Remus was scribbling madly. Glancing down at the boy's roll of parchment, I was shocked to see he had covered several feet in his small, perfect handwriting.
"Did you do all this today?" I asked quietly, in mild disbelief.
"No," he replied, not pausing in his note taking. "This class."
On Remus's other side, I saw Peter watching two students in the front row pass a note back and forth. I wasn't surprised. Peter always seemed to be watching everyone. Hell, even with us, his friends, he seemed to always be in the background, listening, gathering information and filing it away in his mind, like a rat storing little pieces of food for winter. It was kind of creepy. If I had had anything to hide, it would've made me nervous. Lucky for me I didn't... well, not really, nothing he would have cared to know about.
Hearing a noise to my left, I turned back to James, who had begun to mumble incoherently. "James," I reached over and shook him a bit until I saw his brown eyes flutter open.
"Hmm?" he asked, stifling a yawn.
At that moment, Professor Binns must have dismissed the class, because, suddenly, students were all getting to their feet and gathering their stuff, preparing to leave.
James stood up, stretching out his arms. "Looks like class is over," he said, a smile crossing his handsome features.
"What are we doing now?" I asked the other three as we all gathered near the class room door.
"We should get started on our homework." Remus said, shouldering his bag. "The more we get done now, the less we have to do before bed."
"That's funny," James said with a laugh, clapping Remus on the back. "I thought you said something about doing homework... You're a very funny boy." He reached into his pocket, pulling out four auto-answer quills. He handed one to each of us, keeping one for himself. "That takes care of that... Now, I need your help on something," he said, seriously. "I have to get the golden Snitch!"
"The what?" Remus asked, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Oh yeah, I forgot that you don't have Quidditch in the muggle world!" James exclaimed as we all exited the room. We made our way down the corridor towards the Gryffindor common room, while James explained to Remus the wonders and complexities of Quidditch.
As we neared the portrait of the Fat Lady, Remus interrupted him. "Why do you need our help to get the Snitch?"
"There hasn't been a first year seeker in nearly a century! They'd never let me on the team. As a matter of fact, first years aren't even allowed to try out!"
"Okay..." Remus still didn't seem to understand.
I, however, knowing how James's mind worked, had already put two and two together. "If he steals the Snitch, they won't have it to play with. If he can't play, why should they be able to?"
"And, besides," James replied. "I want that Snitch!"
James, Peter, and I set about plotting a way to get the snitch while our auto-answer quills completed our homework. Remus did his the old fashioned way.
By the time dinner started, we had come up with a plan... there was a slight flaw in it, though. The plan involved James using the invisibility cloak to steal the snitch during the first game... one small problem though. First years weren't allowed brooms, so there we were, broomless.
"Icouldborrowsomeone'sbroom..."James said through a mouthful of shepherd's pie.
"'Borrow'?" I asked, pausing in my eating long enough to get the word out.
"Yeah, you know, stealing with every intention of giving back..." James replied, swallowing.
"Oh, right. Borrowing..."
"Whose broomstick are you planning on taking? Arthur would probably lend you his," Remus suggested.
"No good," I said, answering for James, whose mouth was once again full. "Arthur is on the Quidditch team. The first game is almost always between Gryffindor and Slytherin... Oh! I know who we can borrow a broomstick from!" I exclaimed. "It's so obvious! I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner! Andromeda! She's on the Ravenclaw team. I'll talk to her after dinner, I know she'll help us."
After dinner was through I stopped Andromeda in the hall and pulled her aside.
"'Ello Sirius!" she greeted me, cheerful and upbeat, as usual. "How was your first day of classes?"
"Umm, they went well. I was wondering, though, if sometime I could borrow your broom."
"Sure, when?"
"I don't know yet, but I'll let you know."
"Okay... Sirius, you're not planning on getting in to any trouble, are you?"
"That depends... If I were could I still borrow your broom?"
"Sirius!"
"Just kidding!"
"Uh-huh... I'm not sure I believe you, in fact I'm absolutely positive you're lying, but you can still borrow it. You just better not get caught."
"Have I ever?"
"Yes, or perhaps you've forgotten all the times you're mother has caught you and Bella pulling stunts..."
"But, that wasn't fair! She uses Veritaserum!"
"True, true..." At that moment she was distracted by someone calling her name down the hall. "Well, listen, I've got to go, but you can borrow my broom anytime, as long as I don't need it for a Quidditch match or practice."
"Thanks! Did I ever tell you that you're my favorite cousin?"
"Thanks, but considering my competition for the title, it's not nearly as flattering as it should be! Talk to you later!" And with that she went off to join her friends.
I was headed back to the Common Room to join the others, when I spotted a familiar face, amid a group of Slytherins. "Severus!" I shouted, waving a hand over my head, so he could find me. I watched as he said something to Lucius Malfoy and the older boy frowned in reply. I was beginning to think he wasn't coming over, when he left the group.
"'Ello Sirius," he greeted me with a smile.
"Snivelly," I replied. He and James were my cousins, James on my mother's side, and Snivelly on my fathers, so the three of us had been friends long before we ever met Peter, or the other kids we had grown up with. My mother would kill me if she ever heard me acknowledge James as my cousin. She had disowned her sister when Dad left, I suppose out of some sense of jealousy, because 'Mrs. Potter's marriage was still intact. I don't really know. But, Snivelly's mom was still the closest thing to a friend my mother had ever had, so it was only natural that their children would play together.
His nickname was a result of two three year-olds inability to pronounce a name like Severus. And once you've been dubbed with a name like Snivellus, it doesn't take long to shorten it. "What're you doing in Slytherin?"
"It's a blessing really. Can you imagine what my parents would've said if I hadn't?"
"Yup, I bet it'll be similar to the Howler I get from my mum tomorrow."
This provoked a laugh, and he gave a nod. "Narcissa keeps going on about the shame you and her sisters have brought down on the name of the Black family."
"I'll bet that's not all she's said. Personally, she's the only one of the three I can't stand."
Severus looked back at them, as if to be sure Lucius couldn't hear our conversation.
"What're you doing hanging out with them?" I asked. He just shrugged. "You better not be going dark on us!" I joked, laughing.
He smiled. "I better get back to the Common Room, lots of homework." With that he walked back to join Lucius's entourage.
I started to ask if he'd seen Bella, but he was out of reach before I could form the question. With a sigh, I turned around and hurried to meet James, Remus and Peter in the Gryffindor common room.
When I got there I found James reading his tattered copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages'. Remus had resumed working on his homework. Peter was studying James with, what appeared to be, an unhealthy amount of interest. Arthur was sitting on a couch in front of the fireplace with his girlfriend Molly. Elijah and Jhonen, two first years, were busy with a game of Wizard's chess. There were a few other Gryffindors there I didn't recognize.
Crossing the room to where my friends were sitting, I stretched out next to James on the loveseat, and reached over to seize his book.
"Hey! I was reading that! Oh, hello Sirius! How'd it go with Andromeda?"
"We can borrow it whenever we need to," I told him, flipping through the book, "as long as she doesn't need it for practice or a match."
"They better not switch things up, and make the first match Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw," James said, reaching for his book.
I was too quick for him and stuck it behind me in the loveseat. James didn't hesitate to reach forward and attack me, digging his fingers in to my sides, one of my most ticklish spots. "James! Ah! No!" I screamed, between gasps of air, sliding down the couch, so I was flat on my back. James took advantage of this new position, attacking my sides with a renewed vengeance. "Stop! I'll give you your book, just stop!" James, either not hearing this, or just not caring, continued his tickling, until I was nearly purple in the face. While I was busy struggling to catch my breath, James reached over me, burying his hand into the seat and grabbing his book.
"That's what you get for taking my book," James replied, settling back in his seat, and opening the book back up.
"All that for your book? What would you do if I took something like your invisibility cloak?"
James lowered the book, his eyes narrowed in an adorably threatening glare. "Do you really want to find that one out?"
"Maybe I do," I replied, not knowing quite what to expect. James did nothing however, just going back to reading. I sat back in the loveseat, trying to mask my disappointment. Looking over I saw that Remus had put his homework away, probably finished. Beside him, Peter was not looking too happy. If looks could kill( damn... Glancing around the room I saw Elijah and Jhonen still deeply enthralled in their chess match. I watched as Molly and Arthur slipped out the entrance past the Fat Lady. "Wonder where my cousins are slipping off to(" I remarked, with a snicker.
James put his book down. "I bet I know."
It was on the tip of my tongue to say, "I bet you do," when Peter interrupted.
"I'm going up to bed." It wasn't quite nine yet, and bed wasn't until 10:00.
"He can be so strange sometimes!" I remarked, after Peter had disappeared up the stairs. "All he does is sit there and watch everyone( and he always seems mad at me." I didn't include the way he was always staring at James. "Hey, Remus, how is your leg feeling?" So much had happened that day that I had almost completely forgotten about his accident in our first flying lesson.
"It feels much better, thanks. Madame Pomfrey healed my leg in no time at all."
"It takes forever for bones to heal the muggle way!" I exclaimed remembering an unpleasant incident from a couple of years back, involving the tallest tree in my backyard and a nasty fall. "And, it hurts too!"
"Yeah... I've had a few broken bones over the years... It's no delight."
"Can you believe that Peter's already been given Remedial Potions?!? After just one day of class..." I laughed.
"Leave Petey alone." James said, scowling at me.
"Oh, C'mon!"
To be perfectly honest, perhaps I was being a bit meaner than his behavior, no his mere existence, warranted, but I was just trying to keep myself occupied, doing anything, just so I wouldn't have to think about what lie ahead.
It had happened earlier that afternoon, our last class of the day. James and I had been joking around as always, and I never saw the Potions professor enter the room. As he did and moved to the front of the classroom, a hush came over the class, as if even those who didn't know who he was, knew what he was capable of. I had seen his name on the schedule, but somehow, my mind, perhaps caught up in everything else going on, hadn't put the two together. Professor Riddle. Tom Riddle. The Dark Lord. They were all the same.
I hadn't known he was a teacher at Hogwarts. Perhaps, if I had, I would not have been so eager to come. He held many of us back after class, myself included. It seemed we were to have weekly meetings. I didn't care what he threatened me with. I wouldn't go. I refused.
Trying to put these thoughts out of my mind, I concentrated on what James and Remus were saying.
"I wouldn't hang out with him if I were you," James was saying, a scowl on his face. I didn't have to ask who he was talking about. Remus had spent a lot of the day with a Ravenclaw boy named Evan Thornsburry that I had been friends with for several years. It was bothering me to see the two of them together, too, but for entirely different reasons than James... not that I knew James' reasoning. He and Peter hadn't liked Evan since the summer from the year before, though I never knew why.
I had been upset because... well to put it simply, I really liked Remus, really liked him, and I didn't like the idea of him spending so much time with Evan.
"Why?" Remus asked. "He seems like a perfectly nice boy." Something about the tone of his voice made it sound as if he were hiding something.
James didn't answer the question just shrugged. "Now about getting the snitch..."
The three of us hung out in the common room, talking until a little after 10:00, working on our plan to capture the snitch. At ten-thirty, a side door opened. I didn't know where it lead, but I expected it to be Molly and Arthur returning, but the head that popped in was Ms. McGonagall's. "Ah, a few past-bed-time stragglers, I see. Off to bed with the three of you."
With sighs, Remus, James and I made our way to our room. Peter and Frank were already fast asleep, their bed curtains pulled tightly shut. Remus went to the bathroom to change, but James and I didn't bother. We'd been changing in front of one another for as long as I could remember. No sense becoming modest now, not that I've ever been particularly modest.
Climbing into my own bed, I left my curtains open, watching as James and Remus took to their beds on either side of me. They were both quite attractive, really. James with his messy black hair, and his glasses... I'd had a crush on him for quite awhile... But, there was something about this new boy I couldn't quite put my finger on. He was cute, in a scruffy puppy sort of way, but there was something else there too. Something about his golden eyes...
I tried to push these thoughts to the back of my mind. I rolled over and closed my eyes, but sleep wouldn't come.