Almost immediately Avalon felt the difference between herself and the other Gryffindor students. At the feast, the other students laughed and smiled, joking and acting friendly towards each other. Even at the parties Avalon had attended as a child, she had never been so open and honest with people. She had learned how to be polite, but never how to be a friend.
A pretty girl sitting next to her introduced herself as Rosmerta. "I'm so happy I'm in Gryffindor! I would have died if I wasn't! Did you know you would be a Gryffindor? Its all so new and exciting to me!"
The girl turned to Avalon, expecting her to say something.
Avalon cleared her throat in embarrassment. Never had she met a girl like Rosmerta, who blurted out things better left unsaid. "I thought I'd be in Slytherin," she replied coldly.
Rosemerta's smile visibly faded and she seemed to be having difficulty thinking of something to say. Avalon spared her the trouble and turned back to her plate, refusing to make eye contact with the strange girl.
After the meal, Avalon sat silently, as she had been taught by Camarese at an early age, waiting to be spoken to. She was relieved when the prefects stood and ushered the students back to their dormitories. Several students including Lily Evans tried to speak to Avalon, but she pushed them away. Avalon disliked people intensely. She had never met a person who had been truly kind to her.
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Remus went to his dorm happily. For once in his life he felt accepted and happy. James and Sirius had immediately adopted him and Peter. Both of the boys were extremely hyper and seemed fascinated by quiet Remus, who liked to put in clever remarks which turned up unexpected in James and Sirius's impulsive conversations.
Remus sunk down into his four poster bed, sighing happily as Sirius and James conducted a mattress test, as they called it, by seeing who could jump the highest on their own beds without knocking their heads against the canopies.
Eventually Sirius got his foot tangled in the blankets and ended up ripping his canopy clear off and knocking over two lamps and an unsuspecting Peter. Grinning, Sirius took a bow and wriggled his eyebrows mysteriously. James laughed and flopped down onto his bed, Peter groaned and Remus smiled simply, happy to finally have somewhere where he belonged.
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The next day, the sun rose over Hogwarts, illuminating the turrets and towers of the castle, and Avalon watched her new classmates happily prepare for the day to come. Avalon herself did not share their joy. She could not understand these strange people and their friendly and their false mannerisms.
"Hello Avalon," Rosmerta said with a smile, not giving up on her.
Avalon looked at her strangely and then assumed her façade usually reserved for her mother's parties. "Hello, nice day isn't it?" Then Avalon turned quickly and headed downstairs without further comment, leaving Rosmerta standing behind staring baffled at the retreating girl's back.
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Sirius's first class of the day was Transfiguration with Ravenclaw. The professor was a thin young woman with her hair pulled back in a bun so tight that he worried it might be cutting off her circulation. She introduced herself as Professor McGonagall, and told the class that it was her first year teaching at Hogwarts.
In Sirius's opinion, admitting her lack of experience had been her fatal flaw. He could not let such a juvenile mistake go. Besides, he reasoned, the professor looked as if she could use a bit of loosening up. And Sirius considered himself the perfect person to undertake the task.
During lunch he explained this sentiment to James, Sirius and Peter and they reached an agreement. No corner of Hogwarts would go undiscovered. No professor would go unannoyed.
"We need a name for our group," James declared.
"How about the menaces?" Sirius suggested.
"The annoyers," suggested Peter.
"No… the Marauders!" Remus contributed.
It was agreed upon and the Marauders were officially born.