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Can you tell I don't like Snape? Heehee. Sorry about the wait, I hope it was at least sort of worth it. Next chapter will be Rayven and sigh Remus centered, but also some Lily and James bantering.
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Rayven awoke early the next morning, which was the first day of the term. Yawning, she blinked her eyes and was slightly disoriented for a moment as she tried to recollect where she was.
'Back at school,' Rayven remembered, smiling ear to ear. She sat up and pulled back the curtains surrounding her bed. Rae could hear Gari mumbling in her sleep and Alice's light snores to reveal the other girls lack of readiness.
Sighing, Rayven stretched and got out of bed, shivering as her feet came into contact with the cold floor. She tiptoed across the room to the bathroom, where she quickly bathed and dressed in her uniform. Careful not to wake the girls again, she made her way down the stairs, still trying to get on the tie part of her uniform. She was muttering to herself about 'bloody stupid ties' when she found herself at the bottom of the stairs in the Gryffindor common room.
The moment she entered the common room, she heard footsteps coming down from the boys' dormitory, and she turned to see Remus coming down the stairs, looking just as tired as she. Remus looked up at her and gave a smile as a yawn escaped him.
'He looks adorable,' Rayven couldn't help but think. His hair was mussed, and his soft, amber eyes were subdued from sleep.
"Early class?" Remus asked, running a hand through his light hair.
She nodded, still struggling with her tie. "Ancient Ruins."
"Me too," He replied, walking towards her. He motioned towards her tie. "Want some help?"
Rayven nodded gratefully, and told him as he did her tie for her, "You would think that after six years, I would know how to do this. But every year…I…forget."
She started to lose her train of thought as Remus' rough fingertips brushed her collarbone delicately. He finished her tie, and looked down in her eyes. Rayven took the brief moment to examine his face. At first glance, one might think his features to pretty, but over the years his jaw and cheekbones became more defined, giving him the look of someone born to be more than what he was. A scar ran from above his left eye and then jumped down to below it, stopping just above his cheekbone. Some girls were repulsed by scars, but Rayven thought they made people more real, more human.
"Where did you get that?" Rayven asked, on impulse reaching out to finger the scar lightly above his eye.
Remus swallowed. "Oh…I-"
Thankfully, he was interrupted by Sirius, coming down the stairs angrily and very tired.
"God shitting bloody hell early classes," Sirius cursed, letting out a string of worse words as he approached the common room.
Sirius glanced up at an amused Rayven and Remus, but he scowled back at them.
"Seven in the sodding morning," Sirius snapped. "Nothing bloody amusing about that, hmm?"
Rayven sighed and nodded, picking up her book bag.
"We should go," She said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "Professor Stiffien always hates it when we're late."
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Professor Mary Stiffien came to teach at Hogwarts when she was twenty two, a fact that she always prided herself on. Having graduated from Hufflepuff several years ago, she had always wanted to pursue a teaching career, but never dreamed that she would work at Hogwarts. This was only her second year, but she adored the students more than anything, even if they did make fun of her at times. The older Slytherin girls, like Narcissa Black, would often poke fun at the Ancient Ruins teacher for giving up her youth to teach.
"Merlin, what a waste," Mary overheard Narcissa saying one time. "What's the point of being young if you're going to lock yourself away in this muggle-loving place?"
Mary sighed and took off her glasses to rub her eyes at the memory. Some of Mary's friends had shared Narcissa's sentiments two years ago, when Mary first applied for the job.
"Lovely morning, Professor!"
Professor Stiffien smiled without looking up, recognizing Sirius Black's voice oozing with charm immediately.
"Mister Black," Professor Stiffien greeted him, finally glancing up to see him, Rayven Lockley, and Remus Lupin entering her class.
Remus and Rayven took seats next to each other, while Sirius approached the Professor's desk.
"Wonderful summer, you had, I suspect," Sirius told her, flashing a brilliant smile that he used on every teacher and the beginning of every year. "Mine wasn't too brilliant though, without you and all." He gave her the look of a sad puppy, gazing his blue eyes up at her.
"I'm sure, Mister Black," Professor Stiffien replied somewhat dryly, yet indulging him with a smile all the same. "You may take your seat."
"Whatever you say, ma'am," Sirius obeyed, giving a small bow and taking a seat at the desk behind Remus and Rayven.
As the rest of the students filed in, the Professor smiled, feeling more at peace than anytime over the summer.
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Lily was awake the same time as the other girls, only she awoke in the tower she and the Head Boy shared. They each had their own bedroom and bathroom, as well as a small, private common room. As Professor McGonagall had told them the password to the tower, she had given Lily a somewhat encouraging and sympathetic smile. Lily could understand that. She was being forced to share a tower with Potter, of all people! Groaning, Lily made her way down the stairs, through the common room, and to the bathroom door. She was about to enter, when James came out of his, sans shirt, and Lily covered her eyes.
"Ugh! Potter, could you try to contemplate the fact that some of us might not want to see you half naked?" Lily groaned, opening her eyes to glare at him.
James shrugged; he was too tired to argue. He shrugged on his shirt and buttoned it up, but stopped Lily before she entered the bathroom.
"Look, Lily," James put a hand on her arm gently to halt her. "If we're going to be working together all year, shouldn't we try to get along?"
Lily opened her mouth to retort, but then paused. It was true that it would be much easier to work together if they could stop bickering. She smiled and let out a sigh. "Alright, Potter-"
"James," He intervened. "If we're going to stop arguing, we might as well call each other by our first names."
"James," She nodded, trying the name out on her tongue. "Okay, so we call a truce?"
James nodded. "Yes. Friends?" He put out his hand to shake.
Lily hesitated. "James, we can be neutral, but I'm not sure if we could be friends."
James heart squeezed painfully and her unintentionally hurtful words, but he shook his head anyway. "Neutral, then. I can work with that."
Lily nodded and put out her hands. They shook, and then Lily went into her own bathroom. James sighed and fell back onto the common room couch, putting his face in his hands, groaning.
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After Ancient Ruins, the trio made their way the Great Hall to finally eat breakfast. They found Lily, James, Gari, and Peter at the table already, eating and surprisingly, talking civilly to each other.
"What's this?" Sirius asked, sitting down next to Gari and putting an arm around her. "Are we friends now?" He glanced at Lily and James, who were going over Head Boy and Girl duties. "I mean, if they have gotten friendly with each other, I'm sure we can."
"Sirius-" Gari sighed, but Sirius interrupted her.
"Give me one reason why we shouldn't at least try going out with each other," Sirius told her, looking her in the eyes.
"Other than the fact that we argue all the time?" Gari shot back, raising an eyebrow at him.
"Well, there's this thing called chemistry, Gari," Sirius murmured, moving closer to her, but Gari put her hands against his chest to keep him away.
"There's this thing called hate, Sirius," Gari replied, helping herself to eggs and sausage.
Sirius just shrugged. "Hate turns to passion, making for one hell of a snog."
Gari threw her fork on the table. "That's it right there! Sirius, all you want is a shag from me! You want me because I'm a 'challenge'!" She threw his words from last night back his face, causing him to flinch like she had slapped him.
Ignoring the stares she had gotten from her outburst, Gari stood and stormed out of the Great Hall.
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