Chapter 10: Take Me Away

Fully aware that their son knew how to get from the parking lot of the London train station to platform nine and three-quarters, Master and Mistress Fugue simply got all of his stuff out of the "muggle vehicle" and drove away without a word. Derek sighed as they drove off. Was it too much to ask for them to accept them? When he wasn't really sure he wanted them to accept him… There was just a longing for the companionship that a parent could provide.

As Derek picked up all of his things to place on the trolley that he had gone to get while his parents had emptied the car, he remembered the few encounters that he had with the Potters, and compared them in every way to his one encounter with Mrs. Black, the encounters with Mr. Kosh, and his own parents. Each was terrible in their own way… though Mrs. Black and his own parents seemed to have more similarities to each other than Sarah's father.

But the Potters were different. When they called the boys in for dinner, they did it with a smile, and they listened to what their son had to say without telling him to shut up and do as he was told. Sirius took far too much advantage of this and simply never stopped talking, but James talked when it was necessary, and he had something relatively significant to say. For this reason, Derek supposed that his parents were smart for sitting there and listening to him. It was completely different than the philosophy that his own parents had taken to his own raising.

Even before he had gone off to Hogwarts, and before Theo had been banished, both boys were often forced to be silent, as their parents did not want to hear any of the "babble that kids come up with these days." Derek enjoyed getting out of the house because around the Potters or his… new… friends, he could speak his mind without getting his head bitten off. It was a good and new feeling, and he couldn't help but feel a longing in his chest to be able to be himself around his parents, now that he was beginning to discover who that was.

But that would never be, and the more rational portion of his mind knew that.

Sighing one last time, Derek pushed the trolley forward and began to make his way through the station to a destination that he desperately wanted to go to. Ever since the Marauders had accepted him, he had come to the conclusion that Hogwarts was a much better place to be than his own house. He could deal with all the crap that his parents and House Elf decided to pelt him with… but a place where he didn't have to deal with all of the crap would be a much better place. And since the Marauder crap would be basically gone, Hogwarts would be virtually crap-less.

Reaching the barrier that separated platforms nine and ten, Derek simply didn't stop his trolley, walking through the barrier as if it were the most normal thing in the world to do. He then headed to the train and loaded all of his things onto the baggage car before leaving the trolley with the conductor on duty. Derek, of course, was fairly early to reach the train. His parents never wanted to get him there anywhere near eleven. That, of course, would be such a pain for them to do. So they dropped him off as early as they possibly could, which was closer to nine than eleven. Derek simply took out his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook and opened it to read through most of it before Sarah and Helga got there to join him in the car that they had always shared.

As Derek sat down in the chosen compartment, he wondered idly if the Marauders were expecting him to sit with them. He shrugged to himself, both to give up on his musing and to take a crick out of his neck. It didn't really matter if they wanted him to be in their compartment. They were welcome to join them, though Helga might be a mite confused about the friendliness of the Marauders and Derek and Sarah. Even if Derek had kept in touch with her through owl post the whole summer. Helga and her family went to Paris, then America, then a quick visit to northern Ireland to be with her extended family members. That didn't give Derek any real chance to go visit her.

Her letters had been about as helpful as Sarah's support had been, and that was a welcome addition. Sometimes he would forget about her support and her owl would come in after a particularly difficult evening in Fugue Manor. She had always had amazing timing. Sarah had the ability to make anyone smile… and Helga would always know when to say something to keep him from going over the edge. That was why they had been his friends for the whole of his career at Hogwarts. They had gotten through his barriers so quickly…

Now, of course, more things were happening on a daily basis. With the Marauders' friendship (particularly James and Remus, and to a lesser extent Sirius), it was more than just a private trio that Derek would be keeping the company of for the next year. Or more, if he was lucky. Do you honestly think you'll be able to think of something in time to survive? Derek quickly squashed that thought. There was time before he had to know the plan of attack… but what was James planning about it, anyway?

After returning his thoughts to his textbook, Derek waited patiently for the compartment to fill up as it usually did, and was interested to see if it filled up any differently this year. The first person to arrive was Sarah, which was completely normal. What was different was that she didn't seem like she was getting over some sort of death. For that matter, Derek himself looked much better than he usually did, and he noticed this as Sarah looked at him and smiled wider. "It seems that this summer was nicer to both of us."

Derek simply nodded in response as Sarah came in and took the seat next to Derek's. It was only another ten minutes or so before Helga came in as well and sat opposite Sarah. A short while later, Derek saw Remus poke his head into the compartment. A grinning head, in fact.

"The Marauders are setting up in the compartment on that side," he jerked his head to indicate the direction. His head disappeared for a moment, only to return to say "the rest of the girls are trying to decide between the two compartments. I wonder which they'll choose?" he chuckled, only to be quickly interrupted by a loud commotion from the compartment that the Marauders were in.

"JAMES POTTER!" No one needed to be told who had yelled.

Remus frowned. "Did he already scare them away?" His head disappeared again, but this time it was not he who reappeared in a moment. Instead, it was Lily Evans, who looked absolutely livid. She was quickly followed by both Wanda and Kelly. Wanda looked timid and subdued, while Kelly was about as angry as Lily was, though she didn't show it the same way. Kelly's soft stream of curses was not lost on anyone, however, and after a particularly nasty one, Sarah squealed.

"Must you use such language!" Sarah demanded of Kelly, her face coming around into a scowl.

Kelly met her, scowl for scowl. "Yes."

"Then keep it to yourself," Derek said lazily, looking askance at Lily. He wanted to know what James had done this time. Lily didn't seem to want to respond to Derek's askance looks, so the compartment dealt with Kelly's slowly dwindling stream of curses. Derek turned to Sarah, who seemed a little put out at Kelly's continuation of her curses. Derek patted her back. "At least it's not us being 'comforted' by them treading lightly around us," he whispered, bringing a smile to her lips.

As Kelly and Lily both calmed down, the train ride became a humdrum affair. Some of them went from compartment to compartment every once in a while, including Derek and Sarah. Lily and James however remained in their respective compartments, and no one who wasn't there in the first place could find out what happened between them at the beginning of the train ride. Derek had taken to asking anyone he met in the corridor between the two cars, but even Remus simply shook his head.

Many hours later, the train finally pulled to a stop. Both Lily and James had at least gotten over the events at the beginning of the ride, whatever they were, and had thoroughly sufficient smiles on their faces. Despite this, Remus lead Lily away quickly to join the prefects in their carriage before James could leave his compartment. And it was Derek and Sirius who kept James in the carriage while Remus got away with Lily. James didn't catch on to what they were doing however, and was still in a good mood when the rest of their party had piled into their carriages.

It was harder to keep them separate once they had gotten into the Great Hall, but they managed it by having everyone sit between Lily and James, and placing them on opposite sides of the table. It didn't solve all problems, as they could still see each other, but they were far enough away that there could be two or three conversations separating the two of them, which was enough to keep them from hearing each other and getting further ticked at the other.

After all of the students had settled into their chairs, Dumbledore rose to address the Hall. "Professor McGonagall seems to be run- Ah! Here she is!" He exclaimed as the witch he indicated came through the doors with the scared-looking first years streaming behind her. She looked a little harried, but she still strolled to the front of the Hall with no nonsense brooked. She had the scroll in her fist and strode to her place just to one side of the Sorting Hat that sat on its stool directly in front of Dumbledore. She then turned around and began to unroll the scroll.

"As your name is called," she said, her voice unflustered, but her eyes even more stern than usual. Even James, who was her favorite student, averted his eyes from hers when her gaze came by. "Come and put on the Sorting Hat, which will tell you which House you are in." She seemed to calm a bit down as she waited for the Sorting Hat to begin its song. The first years, not knowing this, took a little while to notice that everyone was staring at the hat, and joined in. Once they all were looking, the rip in the brim opened to sing out.

As I see the faces smiling 'round

This hall, Great and Tall

I notice that there are some

Who aren't smiling at all

There are many things that

Within this wearied world

Are not to be understood

By those of the human mold

I was made to separate

To tell all of you which direction

You would take within

And with whom to have connection

Whether you are a Gryffindor

Brave and strong, with a good head

Born leaders, to make sure

That all will be fed

Whether you are a Ravenclaw

With the intelligence to prove

And to tell others what to do

And how to move

Whether you are a Slytherin

Ambition being your primary mark

Proving to others your worth

When they think of nothing but bark

Whether you are a Hufflepuff

With the capacity of loyalty

That will bind the rest together

In truth and completely

But separate is not as what should be

For this was not the intent

Together, bound as one

This school will be content

Hard times have come upon us all

But the school stands, and shall stand

For many years more

Long after I leave this stand

Stand together, Oh Hogwarts Four

Stand against the coming tide

For now I will tell you

What jobs you shall abide

And with that, the Hat was once again silent, causing the Great Hall to erupt into applause. As McGonagall began the Sorting without any further hubbub, there were some mutters around the Hall. Derek and James, sitting opposite each other, exchanged glances. Even James and Lily exchanged glances, their earlier argument forgotten. The Sorting Hat had changed its tune, and though its message was heartening, it did basically confirm the fact that they were all living in darker times.

After the Sorting was completed, Dumbledore stood up once again. "To those who have just recently joined us, welcome! To our old hats," Dumbledore clearly indicated the silent Sorting Hat, though it was obvious he was also referring to the older students as well, "Welcome back! I do have a few start of term announcements, but now is not the time to give them. Dig in!"

And the plates in front of the students filled, and the gasps of the first years could be heard. The conversations began again, but most of them remained on a subject near to the Sorting Hat or its song of the year. Derek didn't chime into the conversation, but kept his thoughts about it to himself. There were many things he had to consider. His thoughts strayed to the idea that James had and would bring up to the Headmaster… to his parents and the rest of the Death Eaters, and Lord Voldemort, of whom many people had stopped using the name of… and to the decision he had made, and the repercussions of that decision that he had to dodge.

It was quite a full mind of things to contemplate, so after eating his meal silently, he simply waited for the feast to be over while still mulling within his mind. It wasn't long before Dumbledore stood up once again, to make the start of term announcements. "First years," he began, "and some older students," his gaze passed the Marauders, who didn't even flinch, "would do well to remember that the Dark Forest is out of bounds to students. There are quite a bit of new items on the forbidden to use in corridors list that the caretaker, Argus Filch, has placed on his door." ("Wonder if he put our newest trick up yet?" Sirius asked quietly) "In lighter news, we have a new flying teacher, as Master Hickett decided that his time at Hogwarts was up last year. I would like all of you to welcome Madam Hooch, who will also be taking over the Quidditch duties of the castle." There was a smattering of applause.

"Now, that is all I needed to tell you. How about we all go sleep off this lovely feast and reconvene in the morning to start the year off right? Off you trot!"

Having been finally unified for once, the entirety of the Gryffindor sixth years walked up to Gryffindor Tower together in one large group. Before they got very far however, the Slytherin sixth years caught them up.

"Ah, his maestro seems to have finally gotten on your good side, eh, Potter?" Snapes voice came silkily from behind the Gryffindors, and the Slytherins faced them off from a floor below. The other Slytherins chuckled at Snape's mild jibe. "Took him long enough, being as much of a blood traitor as you are."

"Mind yourself, Snape," James snapped. "What happens between Gryffindors is no concern of yours."

Snape's smirk increased. "Of course not. Why should I care what mudbloods and their lovers do on a daily basis?" James's eyes lit with fury, but he didn't move, because there were two wands at his back, and Sirius's hand rested on his shoulder. "Oh, too bad, your minders won't let you fight like a man. Pity."

"Only because you wouldn't ever."

Snape's eyebrows rose. "A bit brave, aren't we, Fugue? We'll see how you feel when your new 'friends' are killed by those who are better than you." His voice dropped low enough that the Gryffindors had to strain to hear him. "Such as your parents."

Sarah's hand went to Derek's back, unseen by the Slytherins, and not noticed by many of the Gryffindors either. Derek had stiffened, but he didn't show any other reaction.

Snape smiled. "Time for bed, cubs." And with that, the Slytherins were strolling over to the set of stairs that provided the easiest access to the dungeons.

The Gryffindors turned to continue in their trek to the Tower, but James and Derek were fuming at Snape's goading. They exchanged goodbyes once they had reached the Common Room, having already given the Fat Lady the password ("Nutty Dog"… Derek wondered why the Marauders found that so funny…) There was no conversation in the boys' dorm, and Derek changed and got into his four poster, only to lay upon it staring at the ceiling.

Was what he was doing going to endanger these new friends of his? With the fact that he was teetering on the edge of death lately, he hadn't even thought of the fact that the people he was now associating with were also in danger… but he shook his head. There was no reason for his own decision to affect the amount of danger they were in. They were all in positions that made the Death Eaters their enemies. He was among people who were just like him… and he wasn't endangering them…

But he couldn't be sure of that.

Derek Fugue sighed, rolling over and closing his eyes. Why couldn't he just have some other life away from all of this worry?