Flaws Of Perfection

By: Celestial Huntress

DISCLAIMER: The only people I own are Arielle, Katrina and Atalanta. The amazing book series by J.K. Rowling is all her own.

A very special thanks to my reviewers! You've been both helpful and encouraging! Thank you so much for all the advice! It's what keeps me writing

Chapter 2: The Hogwarts Express Part I

In the middle of fourth year, Lily, Arielle, Katrina (known as Kat) and Atalanta made a pact that they would never, for any reason date a Maurader. They were all arrogant, selfish "womanizers," who did whatever they could for a little attention. Of course, this pact was made after Kat and Sirius had broken up after three days, not that she took it too seriously; it was expected. This pact was known by most of the school; and poor James had just realized his feelings for the lovely redhead Lily, but she would have denied him a date pact or not. It just gave her a good excuse. Arielle didn't mind this pact too much, she wasn't interested in pompous bullies and boyfriends, but she knew this title only belonged to Potter and Black. After all, Remus Lupin was an old friend of hers, and she knew he wasn't self-centered or a "womanizer." Peter Pettigrew wasn't handsome, charming, or intelligent like the other Mauraders, and many witches of Hogwarts how he managed to gel with such a bunch.

Arielle reflected on all this out of boredom of the long ride to Hogwarts, wondering what adventures could lay ahead for her seventh year. Arielle had even brown, wavy-ish straight hair (it never seemed to be one or the other) and blue eyes with a fairly athletic build. Most others considered her pretty, and she knew this, but honestly she thought she looked just like anyone else, just normal, nothing special. She was Keeper of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, pure blooded, and was able to keep good grades due to hard work and a good memory.

Lily Evans was the prefect of the group, usually known as a "goody-two-shoes" but her beloved friends adored her strong sense of justice and her determination. Her pretty green eyes gave an amused sparkle when she was asked her opinion. She also had thick red hair that just touched past her shoulders and was a Muggle-born witch. Lily was all for their little pact, since she simply detested James Potter.

Katrina Thomlin used her own wit and feminine charm to win about as many boyfriends as Potter and Black had girlfriends. Kat was a half-blooded girl, her mother a witch and her father a Muggle. With her dead straight dark brown hair and soft brown eyes, she was most likely the only person able to exploit the Mauraders. Kat was the kind of person who was addicted to gossip and had a certain knack of attracting it wherever she went. She put this talent and her love of money to good use by selling gossip to "homework groups" which were actually James and Sirius fan clubs. It was a very successful business, and the obsessed fan girls paid good money to know all the newest, juiciest secrets first.

Atalanta Alta was deemed strange by most of her classmates because of her wavy silvery blonde hair and cloudy gray eyes, or maybe because she acted like she knew more than she should without saying a word. However, the teenage years softened her up a little and brought her a little closer to reality mentally, since she was usually spacing out. She was easy to talk to, and at least she understood jokes now and then. Surprisingly, Atalanta was actually very creative. She loved to mix together new ingredients for potions to see the outcome and maybe even create new spells (that was her dream). She'd had a little luck with her potions, but hadn't successfully created anything yet.

Arielle yawned. The rocking movement of the train always made her want to sleep, especially when Kat was rambling a mile a minute on and on about other people's business that she didn't really care about. Atalanta stared into space; only Lily's presence was missing, as a result of her being Head Girl.

Suddenly, the compartment door opened and James Potter stepped in.

"Hullo ladies! Are we all enjoying the ride?" said brightly, but began to look disappointed. If Arielle had a pillow, she would have thrown it at him, but from lack of a better alternative, she raised her hand rather pathetically to try and shoo him away and groaned with annoyance.

"What's that, Craft?" he asked teasingly polite.

"Ignore her, she's just cranky," said Katrina, shooting Arielle a dark look.

"Well, we'll be arriving shortly," he said, stepping out of the compartment.

Arielle groaned again, but this time it sounded whinny, like a complaint.

"Thanks," called Atalanta, with a slight smile; James nodded and closed the door.

"What's wrong with you, Miss Enthusiastic?" Kat asked sarcastically.

"Huh? Oh…well it's our last year, and…" Arielle trailed off deep in thought.

"And?"

"I…never really appreciated how beautiful this train was," retorted Arielle, sounding disappointed in herself like she was an idiot for not noticing something so obvious.

Katrina rolled her eyes and tried to change the subject, "You know, James dated at least 15 different girls last year. I wonder why though, I'm almost positive he's got it bad for Lily…but then again, it wasn't nearly as many girls as Black…"

She continued to talk about their whole dating history, listing numerous girls, which turned her 'conversation' into more of a lecture.

"You should write for a magazine or something," interrupted Arielle, "Like a gossip column or something, you know."…. That way people who actually care can bother himself or herself with it, Arielle thought to herself. Arielle didn't dislike Kat, she just she talked too much for having so little to say.

The familiar bell of the snack trolley could be heard faintly outside their compartment, so Arielle got up and exited the compartment.

"Can I get about a dozen of these?" asked Arielle, grabbing the licorice wands while trying to pry open a leather pouch containing her money at the same time. The witch pushing the trolley smiled politely as another compartment door opened and Sirius Black stepped out, obviously waiting for her to finish. He leaned back against the side door, crossed his arms and gracefully shook his head as to get some of his shaggy black hair out of his eyes, but instead more hair seemed to fall in front of his face. Arielle noticed him in the corner, opened the wrapper of her licorice wand, nodded to Black in greeting and took a huge bite of her candy, spun around and went back to her compartment.

The famously handsome Sirius Black watched Arielle's every move at the cart. Something about her had caught his attention. True, she always had been pretty; the summer had been especially nice to her, as she seemed even more stunningly beautiful in his eyes. Okay, fine. He liked her; James would be proud, but her wasn't sure why. Was it just because she was good looking, like so many other girls he had dated? Or maybe it was that vibe she gave off, the 'I'm-single-independent-and-proud-of-it' vibe. All he knew was that he wouldn't mind getting her alone somewhere more private…perhaps minus the robe. He decided that it definitely was the strange feeling he had in his gut when he saw or talked to her, like when he had seen her working at Flourish and Blotts. He didn't understand the jumpy, uncomfortable, heart pumping feeling he got around her. 'It's not that I like her,' he thought, 'It's something…else…'

Yay! Second chapter completed! I hope this wasn't too short for you all…I thought it was longer. The next chapter will be mostly in Lily's point of view (and is longer!), so we can all check up on her and see how she's doing. And while you are enjoying the fruits of my labor, please remember to keep in touch with our best friend…the button that lets you review!