A/N: Chapter 3 is here! Plz read and review and tell me what you think. For whoever it was who asked, I can't remember who, yes the kids do have a relevance to this story. All will be revealed later!
Disclaimer: I don't own HP
Chapter 3- Settling In
'Okay, I better explain the rules to you about what you're allowed to do and what you're not allowed to do.' Nat, Emily, Eliza and the seven Hogwarts students were sitting around a large rectangular table polishing off what had once been a small mountain of pancakes. 'You are not allowed to leave the property except to go to school. You are here to be punished after all. You can do basically anything you want when you are not at school as long as you stay on the grounds and don't do anything dangerous. Now if you're all finished eating I'll show you to your rooms and give you a tour of the house.' Nat looked around the table for the others consent and they all nodded. She waved her wand and the scraps cleared off the plates, leaving them sparkling clean. The newly cleaned plates soared through the air and stacked themselves in the kitchen cupboard.
Once the kitchen was spotless, Nat lead the marauders up the stairs and into a side corridor where there were doors spaced evenly along the wall. Nat walked up to the first door, turned the handle and lead the others inside. The room was fairly large with four single beds along one wall, and four sets of shelves along the opposite wall. There was another door at the other end of the room, alongside a lone mirror. 'This is the guy's room.' Said Nat, 'The door at the other end of the room leads to a bathroom which the four of you will have to share. I'll leave you lot to get settled in while I show the girls their room.' Nat summoned the boy's trunks from the entrance hall up into the room before leading the girls into the room directly opposite the guys' room. The room was more or less the same except that the girls had a floor length mirror each as well as their other furniture. 'I'll leave you guys to unpack and talk,' Nat said, grinning at the girls, 'If you need anything I'll be just downstairs. See ya!' Nat turned and walked out of the room, leaving the three girls to unpack.
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'I'm bored.'
'Sirius, we've only been here for like, ten minutes! How can you be bored already?'
The four guys were in their room, unpacking. Well, James, Peter and Remus were unpacking. Sirius was hanging upside down off his bed, his dark hair falling messily around his face.
'I'm just bored, that's all, and I have energy to burn!' Sirius said, jumping off his bed.
'Umm, not to interrupt guys, but remember what happened last time Sirius had too much energy?' said Peter nervously. James and Remus visibly shuddered. That had been a painful experience.
'We have to find him something to do now!' James jumped up and started to drag Sirius towards the door.
'Wait a second! We aren't even allowed to leave the property, remember?' Remus said, shoving Sirius and James back on their beds, 'Tell me what you're planning to do before you run off and get an extra week added to your suspension.'
'Uh…well we could…uh…' James started.
'We could…uh no, we're not allowed to leave are we…' Peter tried.
'Guys! I'm bored now!' Whined Sirius.
James, Remus and Peter shot nervous looks at each other.
'I know what you could do.' The four boy's heads shot towards the door at the sound of the new voice. Standing in the doorway was Eliza, her bright blue eyes glinting. 'Have you guys ever played cops and robbers?'
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Ten minutes later, Sirius, James, Peter and Remus were standing out on the front lawn along with Lily, Erin and Christine. Eliza was standing in front of them, explaining the rules of 'cops and robbers.'
'So there are two teams: the cops and the robbers. The cops have to try and catch the robbers and bring them back to jail. Once all the robbers are caught the game is over. If a robber is caught they can be freed by being tagged free by another robber. You can go anywhere in the front and back yards, but you can only run through the house; you're not allowed to stay in it.' Eliza explained, 'Any questions?' The teens shook their heads. Strange how such a small child could be so intimidating.
'Okay, now let's pick teams. I'll be the captain of the robbers and... You can be captain of the cops.' She said, pointing to Erin. Erin smiled at the little girl and walked out the front.
'Okay, I'll pick first.' Eliza thought a minute and then…, 'You.' She pointed decisively to Sirius.
'Wow, never saw that coming.' Muttered Christine under her breath.
The picking of teams went on for another five minutes and finally, the teams were decided. On the cops team was Erin, Remus, Lily and Peter and on the robbers team was Eliza, Sirius, Christine and James.
'Count to one hundred and then come get us!' Yelled Eliza, as she ran round the side of the house.
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Lily opened her eyes as she finished counting. They had already decided to split up into two groups to circle the house. She was about to signal to Erin that they should be partners, but she noticed Erin trying to catch Remus's eye. Lily grinned. Everyone knew that Remus fancied Erin, but only Lily and Christine knew that Erin liked him back. With one last grin in Erin and Remus's general direction, Lily grabbed Peter's hand and started to drag him around the left side of the house. 'Come on, Wormtail.' She said, 'You're my partner. Let's go.' They walked quickly around the side of the house and came out the back. Lily gasped. It was amazing! There was a large swimming pool, huge gardens with so many trees it was almost a forest and a wide stretch of grass the size of a small football field. Getting over her original awe, Lily began to scan the grounds. Before long, she spotted an elbow sticking out of a bush, not far from where she was standing. The problem was, Peter saw it too. He took off at a run towards the bush, giving the person inside it plenty of warning. James burst out of the bush, leaves in his hair and his glasses askew, and took off at a run towards the garden/forest. With a look of determination on her face, Lily was after him. They burst into the garden and Lily realised there was a small stone pathway that lead through the trees, round to the other side of the house. James was too far ahead, she was never going to catch him. James disappeared around a corner. Lily sprinted round after him and realised that she had a chance to catch him after all. James had reached a gate. He was struggling to open it, but it seemed to be locked. With a cry of victory, Lily launched herself onto his back and they both tumbled to the ground. It took Lily a few seconds to realise she was lying on top of James. He grinned up at her. 'Got me.' He whispered softly. He looked so cute like that, with his hair all messed up… Before Lily realised what she was doing, she was pushing her mouth hard against his, all thoughts of the game forgotten. James seemed surprised at first, but then started to kiss her back. The kiss lasted for about thirty seconds before Lily pulled away. 'I should really take you to jail now.' She said softly, her mouth curved in a faint smile. James nodded, jumped up helped Lily to her feet. Lily led James around the side of the house, both of them fighting hard to keep the grins off their faces as they emerged out the trees and into plain sight.
A/N: Okay, what did you think? Loved it? Hated it? Really hated it? Plz let me know!