A/N: On to seventh year! Yes, it's finally time for the fic. –drum roll– Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time! And my writing might get worse as time goes on. Stinking writer's block. xP And I might not be able to update as much because I go back to school on Monday. –sigh– It was a fun week off.
Disclaimer: As if I could write the Harry Potter books. –depressed sigh- J.K. Rowling owns everything here unless you've never read it in the books.
"Patty, Sammy! Over here!" Amber yelled. "Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
Patty and Samantha pushed their way through the crowd of Platform 9 ¾, trying to avoid getting stepped on and keep their cats from getting jostled too much. They finally joined Amber by the scarlet train that was the Hogwarts Express and they hugged.
"How are you guys?" Amber asked, leading them to the compartment she and Lily had already stored their stuff in. "Good summers?"
"Yeah. We bumped into each other in Paris and spent the rest of break hanging out together," Samantha said.
"I have never been to Paris before," Patty said. "It was exhilarating. The Eiffel Tower, the Notre Dame Cathedral..." Patty started ticking off places she had been while Amber attempted to open the door to the compartment.
"James and Sirius did something to this door, I just know it," she muttered, pushing the door as hard as she could. Eventually it unstuck and slid open. She held it while Samantha and Patty put their things up, afraid that it would stick again. It was trying to shut on its own.
"Anyone have a really thick book?" Amber panted. "We need to make sure the door doesn't shut all the way until I can track down Sirius."
Patty rifled one out of her trunk and handed it to Amber. Amber placed it, the spine of the book on the floor, against the other wall so it wouldn't shut. Amber jumped into the corridor and the door sprung forward and slammed against the book. She put her face by the crack.
"I'll be back in a few minutes. Make sure at least one of you stays in here or someone might pull the book out and we'll have to unstick the door all over again." She walked down the corridor, looking in different compartments for any sign of the Marauders or Lily.
She found Remus sitting by himself in a compartment, reading. "Hey, Rem!" she said cheerfully, butterflies dancing in her stomach.
He looked up from his book and smiled at her. Amber's stomach flipped. "Hey, Amber. How are you?" he asked.
"Okay. You?"
"The same."
"Good. Do you know where I can find Gits One and Two?"
"Assuming you're talking about Sirius and James, then nope. Haven't seen them in a week. Why?"
Amber rolled her eyes. "They cast some spell on my compartment door so it keeps slamming shut and sticking. I'd get rid of the spell myself, or have Patty do it, but I don't know what spell they used," she admitted.
Remus sighed and shut his book. "I think I know. They told me about it when we were over at James's house over break. Let's go." Amber helped him stand and led him to her compartment. Samantha and Patty were chatting about France. They jumped when they heard Remus say the counter-spell, "Unstickis." A/N: xD I'm so uncreative.
"Thanks, Remus," Amber said gratefully, picking up the book from the floor and tossing it to Patty. She hugged him, and pulled away quickly when she heard a yell from the platform.
"Lily and James," Remus, Patty, Samantha, and Amber said at once tiredly.
"I'll see you guys later," Remus said. "Gotta read." He waved and walked off towards his own compartment.
"Liar!" Amber called after him. He grinned over his shoulder. Amber laughed but sobered quickly as Lily came stomping over to her.
"Potter is Head Boy!" she raged, throwing herself into an empty seat. "Out of all the seventh year boys, POTTER is Head Boy! How could Dumbledore do this?! Head Boy and Girl have dormitories right across from each other! I HAVE TO SLEEP ACROSS THE HALL FROM BLOODY POTTER!"
"Calm down, Lils!" Samantha said. "It's not the end of the world. Could be worse, you know."
"How could this be worse?!"
"Snape could be Head Boy and you have to share a bed with him," Amber said, grinning and sitting across from Lily.
"Guh-ross!" the other three girls said at once. They all broke into giggles.
"Hey, ladies."
"Hi, Sirius," Patty and Samantha said between giggles. Lily had started to hit Amber, who was defending herself and laughing.
"Amber, can I talk to you for a minute?" Sirius asked, looking half-amused by the fact that Lily was telling Amber to go to hell.
Amber stuck her tongue out at Lily and said, "Sure." She followed him out into the corridor and slid the door shut behind her.
"I see you got the door to quit sticking," Sirius said vaguely, looking preoccupied.
"Nah, Remus did. It was a good prank." Amber crossed her arms in front of her. "So what's up? Need to talk about your mum?"
He pulled a face. "I didn't see her all summer. I stayed at James's place. His parents didn't ask any questions; just told me that I could stay in the guest bedroom and treated me like a member of the family. They're nice folks."
"Yeah, they are. I met them at Diagon Alley before fifth year. But something tells me you wanted to talk about something bigger."
"Er–yeah. Listen, I know that this is going to sound weird, but do you think you could put in a good word for me to Melinda Waters? She's that red-haired girl in Ravenclaw." Sirius's eyes were pleading.
"'Course, Siri. Just as long as you promise one thing."
"What?"
"You have to take it slow with her. Don't try to get her in bed on the second date like you try to do with all those other girls," Amber said. "You tried with me last time, so this time you have to wait until at least the fifth date and each date has to have at least three days in between."
Sirius stuck out his lower lip. "But that's not fair! I have needs, you know. Third date? Please?" He threw his arms around Amber and pretended to cry.
She sighed. "Fourth date, then." Unwillingly, she found herself thinking, I might just be out of it right now, but he looks really good. He's got muscle too.
Sirius released her and grinned. "Thanks, Am."
"Anytime, Siri." She disappeared back into her compartment and Sirius walked down the corridor as the train started to move. He joined Remus in his compartment and plopped into an empty seat, still grinning.
"Who are you planning to date this time?" Remus asked, not looking up from his book.
"Melinda Waters," Sirius answered, propping his feet up on the seat across from him.
Remus looked up. "The Ravenclaw?"
"The very same."
Remus shook his head and returned to his book. "Maybe you should actually try to get to know these girls before you date them."
Sirius waved his hand as if to dismiss the idea. "I find out plenty on the dates. Besides, I'm not looking for anything long-term."
The compartment door slid open again and a very unhappy looking James trudged inside, stepping over Sirius's long legs. He sat down and slumped in his seat, muttering, "Why doesn't she like me?"
"Evans again?" Sirius asked, looking over at his friend. James nodded slightly. "What'd she say this time?"
"The usual. She hates me, I have a big head, I'm an arrogant toerag, ect." He sighed. "She didn't even look at me when I went to go get her so we could tell the prefects what to do."
Sirius clapped James on the back; James went flying forward and nearly fell from his chair. "Don't worry, mate. She'll come around eventually."
"But this is our last year!" James whined. "After this year, who knows when we'll see each other again!"
"You'll see each other every morning because you'll be sleeping together," Sirius quipped. Remus snorted.
A/N: Sorry to cut this short but I've gotta get some sleep. I'll work on the next chapter, which will probably stream off of this one, tomorrow or something. Review!
