A/N: I just realized that I didn't include a disclaimer, so here it is. I DON'T OWN ANYTHING- except the characters I made up.

Chapter Three

The next morning, Michelle was woken up much earlier than she would have liked by the sound of one of her new roommates singing - or trying to sing - while taking a shower. Michelle groaned as she noticed that her alarm clock said it was 6:30. She rolled back over, attempting to shut out whatever Muggle song Jennifer was singing, wanting to go back to sleep. She failed miserably.

"Jen, would you mind SHUTTING UP! SOME of us want to SLEEP!" yelled Lily, while Grace made indistinct sounds of agreement from her bed near the door. Jennifer apparently either didn't hear Lily, or she simply chose to ignore her friend's complaints, because seconds later she restarted her rather bad rendition of 'Look at Me, I'm Sandra Dee'.

Look at me; I'm Sandra Dee, lousy with virginity

Won't go to bed till I'm legally wed, I can't, I'm Sandra Dee

"God, when is that girl going to realize that she can't sing worth shit?" Grace asked exasperatedly. She began to get out of bed and get dressed, having given up on the hope of a few more minutes of sleep.

Watch it, hey, I'm Doris Day, I was not brought up that way

Won't come across, even Rock Hudson lost his heart to Doris Day

"Does she do this every morning?" asked Michelle, as she pulled her uniform on over a pair of bell-bottom jeans and a white tank-top. Lily was still refusing to get up, remaining in bed with her pillows covering her head, in the vain hopes that she might be able to drown out her friend's so-called song. "Unfortunately, yes. She could at least learn to sing on key, but no, that would be way too much trouble, wouldn't?" said Grace, as she began to pull her waist-length strawberry-blonde hair into a ponytail.

I don't drink or swear, I won't white my hair, I get ill from one cigarette

Keep your filthy paws off my silky drawers.

Would you pull that crap with Annette?

"That girl gets up early every morning to take a shower, spends two hours in there, and always starts singing some random Muggle song. I swear she does it just to punish the rest of us for wanting to sleep a little more." Grace said, just as Jen came out of the bathroom, her uniform already on, apparently ready for breakfast.

"Oh come on, Gracie, you know perfectly well that you girls would never wake up in time for class if I didn't exercise my beautiful singing voice." Jennifer said as she began to get her books together.

"Beautiful singing voice, my ass." Lily grumbled from under her pillow. "You sound like a banshee; I hope you know that, Jennifer." Unfortunately, this drew Jennifer's attention to her, and grinning evilly, she motioned for Grace and Michelle to keep quiet.

"Lils here isn't much of a morning person, in case you haven't noticed," Jennifer said, now moving over to Lily's bed. "Oh LI-LY! IT'S YOUR OWN PERSONAL ALARM CLOCK, SAYING RISE AND SHINE!" Jennifer said in a sing-song voice, before diving onto Lily's bed – and landing right on top of Lily.

"Jennifer Sharpe! Get out of my bed this INSTANT!" Lily bellowed, finally sitting up and glaring at the sixteen year-old girl who was now jumping on her bed.

"Only if you get up, my dear! We can't let Michelle be late to class on her very first day, now can we?" Jennifer said, continuing to jump on the bed.

"Come on Lil, you know she won't stop until you're out of bed. Besides, I'm sure you'll perk up once we get to breakfast," Grace said, while getting her own things together.

"Oh, alright, I'm up, I'm up." Lily grumbled as she finally crawled out of bed, got her clothes together, and made her way over to the bathroom for a quick shower.

Just as the girls were heading down to the common room, they, along with the rest of Gryffindor, heard James Potter, who had apparently just woken up, bellowing at the top of his voice. "SIRIUS BLACK! GET BACK HERE, YOU ASSHOLE!" Sirius, rather than obey his enraged best friend, ran straight into the common room, knocking over a few first years who failed to get out of his way in time. As a soaking wet James Potter came thundering down after him, Sirius, cackling madly all the while, jumped over the couch like an Olympic hurdler, saying "But Jamesie, I was only trying to wake you up and make sure you got a nice shower so you could have time to see your darling Lily before breakfast!"

James, who didn't seem to realize that he was standing in the middle of a packed common room wearing nothing but a pair of sopping wet pink and green polka dotted boxers, said, "You idiot, now it's going to take forever for me to get my hair the way I like it! I can't let Lily see me like this!"

"Too late, Prongs," Remus said, as he and Peter made their way downstairs in a much more mature manner, laughing at their friend. "Looks like all of Gryffindor has seen you, and I have to say that your hair is probably the least of your problems."

James blushed brightly as he finally noticed that he was indeed being stared at, not only by Lily (who was fighting a losing battle to hide her laughter at his expense), but by the rest of his house.

"Potter, go get dressed, or else you'll scar the first years for life at the sight of you half-naked," Lily said, trying to force her face into a scowl worthy of a law-abiding prefect. He obediently went back upstairs, asking his friends to wait for him, as Sirius was the reason he wasn't ready to go yet. Remus chuckled as he went over to join Michelle and the others in seats in front of the fireplace. "Morning, ladies," he said as he took a seat next to Sirius.

"Morning, Remus," the girls chorused as they too sat down.

"So, Michelle, how do you like Hogwarts so far?" Peter asked, smiling warmly at the new girl.

"Much better than my old school. Almost everyone at Salem was a complete snob, pureblood maniacs like my idiot brother, and most of the ones who weren't were too afraid of Andrew to even think of being friends with me. Needless to say, I hated it there," Michelle said, frowning slightly.

"Well, you obviously aren't having any trouble making friends here," Remus said. "Of course, I doubt you'll too many students who'll be scared of your brother; after all, he's no different than the rest of the Slytherins, and no one with any sense would be afraid of them."

"You'd be surprised how different he can be, Remus," Michelle said, frowning sadly, and looking at her knees.

"What do you mean?" Remus asked, as he and the others looked at her in concern.

"He's changed a good bit over the years, and not in a good way. He's so much more than just a common bully, now." Michelle said sadly, and Remus was shocked to see tears in his friend's eyes. He had never known Andrew to make Michelle cry, no matter how cruel he'd been to her, but now something had clearly changed, and Remus was determined to find out what.

"Shelly, what are you talking about? Has he done something to you?" Remus asked gently, taking her hand.

"He-" but Michelle stopped whatever explanation she was about to give as James came bounding down the stairs, finally ready for breakfast, and she remembered that she and Remus weren't alone. "Alright, I'm ready! Let's eat!" James said as he joined the others.

"Took you long enough," Sirius said, as everyone got up and made their way over to the portrait hole.

"Michelle, are you alright?" Grace asked, concerned for her new friend, while James and Sirius continued to bicker on the way out of the common room.

"I'm fine, really. It's nothing; I just don't like talking about my brother is all. Let's eat," Michelle said, wiping her eyes and forcing a smile as they walked down the corridor.

"So Sharpe, you girls finally decided it isn't so bad to be seen in the company of the Marauders, have you?" Sirius asked, smiling arrogantly at them – or more accurately, at Jennifer.

"Don't get too excited, Black. We're just walking with you guys because Michelle, here, seems to want to be friends with you lot, and we're not about to abandon our new friend to the company of four boys," Jennifer said, smirking at Sirius. "Remus is the only one of you idiots we can actually stand, anyway."

Remus laughed, along with the girls, at the expression on Sirius' face. "And what makes you think Remus is any better than the rest of us?" Sirius asked, scowling slightly. "He's just as involved in our pranks as we are. The only reason he never gets into any trouble is that none of the teachers would ever suspect a prefect of being a delinquent. Which he is, by the way."

"I am not," Remus stated, chuckling as they reached the entrance hall. "I'm just more believable than you guys are."

"You mean, you're better at lying, making you a delinquent," Sirius said triumphantly. Their conversation was interrupted as they reached the doors to the Great Hall by a very unwelcome group of Slytherins. Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and a few of their fellow goons were standing in a huddle in front of the doors, effectively blocking them. Lucius looked up and sneered when he saw who was approaching. As if on cue, he led his little group across the hall to where the Marauders and the girls had stopped.

"Well, well, well, what have we here? Gryffindor's resident blood traitor," he began, staring pointedly at Sirius who just scowled angrily but said nothing, "and his tag-alongs. And the new girl," Malfoy added, his eyes finally coming to a rest on Michelle. His sneer turned into a predatory smile as he took in her attractive form. Michelle shifted uneasily under his gaze, and Remus moved to stand in front of her.

"What do you want, Malfoy?" He asked impatiently.

"Oh, there's no need to get so defensive, Lupin. We just wanted to introduce ourselves to your lovely friend here," Malfoy said, his eyes never leaving Michelle. "My name is Lucius Malfoy, and these are my associates, Severus Snape, Rabastan Lestrange, Damien Crabbe, and Carl Goyle. We were just discussing you."

"Oh, really?" Michelle said, looking as if this were the most boring conversation she'd ever had.

"Oh, yes," Malfoy smiled even wider, apparently choosing to ignore Michelle's disinterest. "That was quite the interesting display last night. I was just saying that I wouldn't mind getting to know you better. I could certainly make a few nights with me worth your while," Malfoy said seductively, as he reached out to stroke her cheek.

That was the last straw for Remus. He pulled Michelle back behind him, as his friends pulled out their wands, preparing to fight the Slytherins if it went that far. "Leave her alone, Malfoy," Remus snarled. "She doesn't want anything to do with you."

"Yeah, so why don't you just go back to whatever rock you crawled out of?" Sirius said, while aiming his wand. "Unless you actually want us to hex you and your little band of 'tag-alongs'?"

Malfoy ignored them, focusing his attention on Michelle, who still hadn't said anything. "So, Michelle, what do you say? Like I said, I'll make it worth your while."

"Malfoy, there is nothing you could possibly say or do that would make me want to 'get to know you' any better than I already do," Michelle said disdainfully. "Oh, and I'd rather you not call me Michelle. In fact, I'd really appreciate it if you'd refrain from speaking to me at all."

Malfoy scowled angrily and said, "You'll change your mind, whether you want to or not, girl. I don't take 'no' for an answer."

"Well, you're going to have to this time Malfoy, now get out of our way before we hex you," James said irritatedly.

Malfoy threw a scathing glance at Michelle before silently leading his 'associates' to the Slytherin table.

"I don't get it," Peter said as they all put away their wands and entered the Great Hall themselves. "I thought Malfoy was gay. I mean, didn't you say you caught him and Snape going at it in the bathroom on the train, Remus?"

"I did," Remus said, glancing at Michelle to make sure she was alright. "Maybe he's bisexual or something. What matters, though, is his interest in Michelle."

The discussion was ended as they reached the table, and everyone began to pile food onto their plates. While they were eating, Professor McGonagall came around, passing out the timetables. James groaned as he saw what classes they had that day.

"Damn, this day is just getting worse and worse. We've got Double Potions, Double Divination, and History of Magic all in one day. Abinger, Trelawney, and Binns – the worst possible combination ever." James said, looking disgusted.

"And look, they've already assigned us Potions partners," Grace said, looking positively ill.

"Yeah, and to make matters worse, it looks as though they've paired us up with the Slytherins," Jennifer said, with an unhappy scowl as she saw who her partner was. "Abinger's stuck me with that complete dunce, Goyle. Looks like I'll be doing all the work."

"Well, at least you don't have to put up with someone who knows you only as Mudblood," Lily said angrily as she saw who her own partner was going to be.

"Let me guess," Grace said sympathetically while she examined her own schedule. "Snape's your partner."

"Unfortunately, yes. And no, Potter, I will not need your help if he insults me. I'm perfectly capable of standing up for myself, thank you," Lily said, pouring herself a goblet of orange juice as she noticed James about to say something.

"Well, I'm stuck with Crabbe, so I'm no better off than you are, Jen," Grace said before James could say anything. "What about you guys?"

Sirius suddenly started spluttering, as he nearly choked on his juice. "You okay, Padfoot?" Remus asked as Peter slapped Sirius on the back, trying to get him to stop choking.

Sirius didn't answer. In fact, it looked as though he was incapable of making any coherent sound at all, as he stared at his timetable with an appalled expression on his face. "Bella," he muttered.

"What?" James asked, staring at his friend as he continued to shove food into his mouth.

"I'm partnering Bellatrix," Sirius spat, dropping his fork and looking as though he'd lost his appetite. "Abinger must be insane, ifs he thinks I'm going to work with her. She knows how much I hate my family, and Bella's one of the worst ones."

"Er, who's your partner, Pete?" James asked in an attempt to change the subject. Everyone knew Sirius hated discussing his family.

"Oh, um, let me see," Peter said as he buttered himself some toast, and looked over his timetable once more. "Magnolia Bulstrode. Great. A bulldog looks better than she does," Peter looked disgusted. "Who've you two got?" He asked James and Remus and everyone finished off their breakfast.

"Narcissa," James said, looking at his schedule as if it was a death warrant. "Abinger must be some sort of sadistic bitch – she's putting us all with people we hate," he said.

"Ugh. I've got Marigold Polynsky," Remus stated looking as disgusted as everyone else. "She's the only one who's blown or melted up more cauldrons than I have." It was well known that the only class Remus did not excel in was Potions, partly because the Potions Mistress, Hematoma Abinger, hated him and always assigned potions that required ingredients that were harmful to werewolves, making it difficult for him to brew them. "I swear Abinger is deliberately trying to make me fail this class," Remus said with a scowl as they left the Great Hall, heading off towards the dungeons, where the Potions classroom was.

Remus noticed that Michelle hadn't said anything in the past few minutes, and asked her if she was all right. "I'm fine," she said, although Remus could tell that something was bothering her. "It's just that I've noticed who my partner is for Potions."

"Who is it?" Lily asked as they reached their class.

"Lucius Malfoy." Michelle said somewhat apprehensively.