Chapter Two

"'Bout time," James muttered before tucking in the delicious food that lined the table in front of him.

Somewhere between dinner and desert Remus asked, "So, what about the new girl?"

Peter didn't respond as he had already begun to stuff his mouth with treacle tarts, but the other two looked at him quizzically. Finally James answered.

"I dunno. I don't care," he replied as he too began to eat his fill of the sweets surrounding them.

"Yeah, she's a Slytherin. She's probably another stuck-up, rich, pureblood with a holier-than-thou attitude," Sirius put in.

Remus just shrugged and finished his desert so he could help Lily gather the first years. James and Sirius put the new girl at the back of their minds and headed off to bed. They fell asleep dreaming about all the possibilities for the year ahead of them.

"Oy! Moony! Wait up!" James called as he dashed through the halls.

"What did you just call me?" Remus snapped. That night would be a full moon so his temper was at its shortest.

"Chill man. We'll explain in class. Binns doesn't care if we talk anyways," Sirius whispered, ushering them through the door.

They chose their usual seats at the back of class, between Lily's group of giggling friends and a solitary Slytherin girl.

"So, since you've always been alone during full moons, we've agreed we wouldn't be very good friend if we allowed it to continue. We've decided to keep you company from now on," James whispered secretively.

"Bu-"

"Relax. We remembered that werewolves will attack people so we chose a different route," Sirius said, cutting off a shocked Remus.

"Over the past four summers we've studied. Yes, that's right, we studied. Don't give us that look. It's not such a far fetched idea," James pressed on. Spotting the look on the werewolf's face, he hastily added, "Well, ok. Maybe it is, but that's not the point. The point is we've agreed that the easiest way to help you is to become animagi. Sirius and I have it down so we can come with you this time."

"But that's illegal! I can't let you guys do it," Remus sputtered, shocked at the idea.

"Too late. It's been done," Sirius responded quickly in a happy, sing-song voice.

Remus sighed and nodded. He seemed to be lost in thought for a while before he quietly asked, "What about Peter?"

James and Sirius exchanged relieved looks at their friend's acceptance of their plan and carefully pondered how to answer the question about the fourth marauder. James came up with an answer first.

"Err... Peter had a few... umm... I suppose you could call them issues. He still hasn't quite got the hang of it yet..."

Upon hearing this Sirius snorted loudly, causing his companions and half the class to look at him.

"That wasn't a few James, that was more like a million," Sirius explained when he had regained control of his laughter and people had stopped staring and returned to their own conversations, "By the end of this summer he was able to get the ears, tail and whiskers, but he couldn't figure out how to make them go away... So it's best if he stays behind."

Remus chuckled and then questioned, "So what animals did you guys pick?"

"The animals pick us, not the other way around," James said, enjoying the rare chance to correct the bookworm, "I become a stag, Sirius turns into a big black dog, and Peter, well, we're still not quite sure but we think it's a rat or mouse because of the ears and tail. That's where the nicknames came from. You're 'Moony,' Sirius is 'Padfoot,' Peter is 'Wormtail,' and I'm 'Prongs.'"

"You know you guys didn't have to do this," Remus said quietly, "but I'm kinda glad you did."

"It's not a problem Moony," Padfoot addressed his best friend.

"It's what friends are for," Prongs added.

The ball rang and the trio headed down to the dungeons for Double Potions.

Two hours later, Sirius dashed out the door of the dungeons. He was supposed to grab the invisibility cloak from James' trunk and meet them under the beech tree. As he ran through the halls he collided with someone going the other way. Both fell and their books were scattered.

"Oh, I am so sorry. Are you okay? You're not hurt are you?" a female voice asked, sounding concerned.

Sirius opened his grey eyes and found he was staring into the bluest eyes he had ever seen. The girl's shoulder-length blonde hair hung down and brushed against his cheek as she bent over him.

"I'm fine. You okay?" Sirius asked, altogether unsure of why he was doing so.

Normally he didn't care if someone was stupid enough not to be watching where they were going and bumped into him. The girl got up, looking relieved, and then began gathering her books and an oddly lumpy parcel from the floor. Sirius followed suit and stood up. Now he was able to get a good view of the girl who had crashed into him. She was short. Maybe 5' 3" compared to his 6'1". She her womanly curves showed through the school uniform and robes. The house colors caught his eye and he frowned.

"You must be the new Slytherin," he said, more to himself than to her.

The girl nodded looking crestfallen, "Yea, I am. And no, I am not okay, I hate it here."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at her. Seeing this, the blonde continued,

"Everyone is so prejudice against me because of the house I'm in. So people in other houses won't have anything to do with me. As for my house, they ignore me because I'm the 'new girl' and I get more attention from the teachers because of it. It totally sucks. I wish I was back home."

It was silent for a moment as the girl stared forlornly out the nearby window at the grounds below.

"You're lucky to have a home to go to. I have a house but it certainly isn't a home. My brother and mother have seen to that," Sirius spoke up, "As for no one in the other houses having anything to do with you; I'm talking to you now, aren't I?"

He smiled, then seeing he wasn't going to get an answer he said, "Besides, it's a habit for the rest of the school to ignore the Slytherins. A majority of them aren't worth the breath it would take to talk to them. Take my brother for instance, Regulus will do anything to bring people down to his level and put himself higher than them-"

"Regulus is you're brother!" the girl demanded, interrupting his train of thought. Sirius nodded, a little surprised at this outburst.

'Well, that would explain the good looks. Purebloods are known for it,' she thought, and then said quietly, "I suppose I better get going. You seemed like you were in a hurry,"

Before the Marauder could respond he heard Madame Pomfrey calling to her from the stairs down the hall.

"Samantha Halloway! What are you still doing here? You know very well that you should have left quite a while ago," the nurse scolded, as she descended the stairs with a corked bottle of clear liquid in her hand.

"Leave your things right there. I'll take them to your room for you. Here's the- Peeves! Give that back this instant!" Madame Pomfrey shouted as Peeves swooped down and took the bottle from her hands.

"Not until you ask politely," Peeves teased, floating just out of reach.

The two teens watched from down the hall as the nurse argued with Peeves and tried to get the bottle back, before Samantha spoke up.

"Peeves, may I please have that bottle?" she asked politely, hoping he would just give up and let her have it.

The poltergeist considered her for a second before nodding and raising it in the air.

"Only if you can catch it!" he yelled as he threw it at them and zoomed off.

Almost as if it were second nature, Sam sprinted down the hall and without thinking skidded to a stop and caught the bottle five seconds before it would have shattered on the stone floor.

"Thanks, Madame Pomfrey," she said, quickly pocketing it, "I'll get going right now. I promise."

Madame Pomfrey nodded and pointed her wand at the stack of books Samantha had been carrying. The books flew to her arms and the nurse headed up the stairs again. After watching her leave Samantha turned around, picked up her parcel and began to leave. She stopped when she heard Sirius say,

"That was a great catch. You should try out for the Slytherin quidditch team. Their seeker position is open. You'd be good at it. Anyways, it sounds like you have somewhere to go. I'll see you around, Samantha."

"Yeah, see ya Black."

Having said their goodbyes, they headed their separate ways, with Sirius waiting until she was out of sight before continuing on his mission.