All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

An Education in the Magical Arts

I stopped counting steps around three hundred as we made our way to Gryffindor Tower. I consider myself to be in fairly good shape, but by the fifth staircase, I was about ready to pass out.

"Is it much further?" I gasped. Remus chuckled.

"Two more staircases."
"Wonderful." I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other and on just breathing. "I am in awful shape!"
"You look like you're in pretty good shape to me," Sirius commented. Remus shot a glare at his friend while my face turned several shades of red. "What? I was only saying!"

"It's probably from sitting in a car for…oh, five months," Remus pointed out. "We can rest if you need to."
I laughed. "I am not resting. If you can make it and you're old, then I can make it too."

Remus huffed at me indignantly. I giggled as we continued up the stairs.

Finally we came to a halt in front of a painting of a lady in a pink dress. She had dark hair, very rosy cheeks and was quite large.

"Where is the door to the Tower?" I asked, looking around.

"Right here," Sirius answered. "Marauders."

I gaped as the Fat Lady beamed at him and the picture swung away from the wall, revealing a hole large enough for us to slip through.

"She seems to have forgiven you," Remus remarked dryly. I raised my eyebrows at Sirius as I slipped through the portrait hole.

"Yes," he answered, just as dryly, following me. "I apologised, promised it would never happen again, and now I'm her favourite again."

I glanced around the room we'd come into. There were a few people in there and they were all staring at us in shock.

"Welcome to the Gryffindor common room," Remus said, ignoring the stares. "This is where members of the house come to spend free time and study for exams. You won't have to worry about that," Remus added under his breath. "Dumbledore won't make you take exams because you're learning seven years in a few months."

"Okay." I watched as Ginny stepped away from a group of people and made her way toward us. She was wearing a set of scarlet robes that made her hair look even more fiery.

"Oh, Ginny," Sirius said, noticing her. "Good, we need you to take Jules up to her dormitory."

Ginny raised her eyebrows. "Her dormitory?" she repeated blankly. I grinned at her.

"I'm going to be taking classes and living in Gryffindor Tower."

Ginny's eyes lit up and she grinned. She took several bags of my things from Remus and wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

"We'll wait here," Remus said quietly as Ginny led me toward the door to the left.

"This is so exciting," she squealed as we started up yet another staircase. I smiled, not sure what to say. "What classes will you be taking?"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms and Transfiguration," I answered.

"Oh, those are my favourites!" she exclaimed. "Whose class will you join? They didn't put you in first year did they?" She looked horrified at the very idea.

"No," I answered, laughing. "They put me in seventh. Alb…um…Professor Dumbledore told me that I would be joining Harry, Hermione and Ron."
Ginny looked slightly disappointed. "Seventh, okay then. This is your dormitory." She pulled open a door and led me inside. I gasped as I stared around.

There were five beds, all of them four poster. They were beautiful, with their dark wood and scarlet hangings. I moved toward them, glancing out one of the stained glass windows as I did.

"Which bed would be mine?" I asked, turning back to Ginny.

"Well, this is Hermione's," she answered, pointing to the one closest to the door. "That one is Lavender's and that one Parvati's. So you could have either of those two."

I frowned. The other two girls were situated at the far end of the dormitory, away from Hermione. I set my bags on the bed next to Hermione's.

"Your mum lent me a couple of your old robes and she gave me a trunk and the books I would need," I told Ginny. "You don't mind, do you?"

"Not at all," Ginny answered with a grin. "I usually need a new set of robes a year anyway, so I'm glad that you could use them. See, it's good to be short," she teased. I laughed.

"I got some new ones though, so if you want them back…"

"Keep them. You never know when you need an old set of robes."

We set my things up quickly and made our way back down to the dormitory. Remus and Sirius were sitting in chairs by the fire and two tiny boys were talking to them. One was holding a camera in his hand.

"Was it brilliant in Canada, Professor Lupin?"
"It was, Colin." He glanced up. "I even brought a Canadian student back with me."
The two boys turned in our direction. I smiled at them. One of them had a shiny badge on the front of his black robes. The other was in scarlet robes exactly like Ginny's.

"I'm Colin Creevey," the one in the black robes said, holding out his hand.

"Julianne Wallace," I said, shaking his hand.

"This is my brother, Dennis. He's just going to Quidditch practice. Do you play?"

"Um, no, I don't."

"Too bad. Do you have Quidditch in Canada?"
"Colin, she's just gotten here," Ginny snapped. "Don't pester her. She's got to go learn how to find her way to her classes."

I smiled gratefully at Ginny as Remus and Sirius both stood. I could see a group of girls giggling and watching them. I bit my lip to hide my smile as we went back through the portrait hole.

*

And so my education began. I was to tell nobody of my connection to Godric Gryffindor, Harry or Remus. I was to eat at my house table and sleep in my house dormitory. It felt odd, being thirty years old and living in a dormitory with three seventeen year old girls. At least Hermione acted older than her age. The other two, Parvati and Lavender…well, as soon as they had met me, they had started telling me about teachers. They both informed me that Professor Lupin was "Incredibly hot". I'd had to stifle a laugh. Hermione had nearly had to jam her fist in her mouth to control her giggles.

Everyone was very nice though. They were interested about Canada, about the schools there. Hermione or Ginny would usually deflect these questions by telling people all sorts of different things. I decided I didn't really want to know what.

The school, however, wasn't nearly as nice as the people. I got lost on my way to the Great Hall on my first day. The suits of armour walked, the people in the portraits could move, and often did, and ghosts would often coming gliding through walls as you were walking past them. I very nearly walked through a ghost, Sir Nicholas, on my second day. He'd apologised profusely because I'd let out a scream and jumped about three feet sideways. I could hear him chuckling to himself after he'd left me.

Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione were more than a little helpful in helping me find my way around. After learning that I'd gotten lost on my way to the Great Hall, every morning they could be found waiting for me in the common room. I only had classes on three days, as my Transfiguration and Charms classes both fell on Wednesday and my Defence Against the Dark Arts classes were on Monday and Thursday. During my free time, either Sirius or Remus would be taking me to an empty classroom to give me additional lessons.

Harry and Hermione, especially, were keen on helping me learn as much as possible as well. Harry, it turned out, was very talented at Defence Against the Dark Arts, learning as well as teaching, and offered his help whenever I needed it. He and Ron had Tuesday afternoons off and had asked if they could join us in the classroom.

It also turned out that Remus hadn't been joking about Hermione. She really did spend most of her free time in the library. The first time I stepped foot in there, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. She'd dragged me through each aisle, pulling out books that had helped her. I'd had a stack nearly as tall as Ginny by the time we got back to the common room.

"Planning on sleeping any time soon?" Harry asked, his face impassive. Ron sniggered as I dumped the books on to the table.

"Hermione recommended them," I explained. "And they all looked so fascinating that I couldn't choose which to get."

"Oh, lord, she's an older Hermione," Ron said with a grimace. Hermione swatted him across the arm while the rest of us laughed.

I enjoyed spending time with the four of them. I wanted to get to know Harry better. I'd never had cousins before; my aunt and uncle had never had children. I wasn't even sure now if they really were my aunt and uncle. Harry, however, wasn't a really big talker and didn't open up easily. I didn't want to push him away, so I didn't pursue the topic of his parents and the aunt that he lived with. I knew that that wasn't a happy topic.

Remus and Sirius were more than willing to tell me about Harry and his parents anyway. By the end of the first week, I knew more about James and Lily Potter than I'd ever known about my own parents. I just wished that somebody had known my mother and father. I would have liked to learn more about them.

My first triumph in one of my classes came during my first lesson, Transfiguration. I transfigured my matchstick into a needle on the second try. Everyone else was transfiguring desks into horses and quills into butterflies, but Professor McGonagall had taken me aside to show me what I should be doing.

"That's great, Julianne!" Hermione whispered ecstatically, looking over my shoulder. She gave my shoulder a squeeze. "I didn't even get it on the first try!"
"Second," I corrected her, my face burning. Professor McGonagall smiled thinly at me.

"That was excellent, Miss Wallace," she said quietly. I knew, coming from Professor McGonagall, that was high praise.

"I'm impressed," Harry said later as we walked together toward the Great Hall. "It took me probably three weeks before I transfigured my matchstick into a needle."

"Shh, Harry," Hermione hissed. "She's supposed to be in seventh year, remember?"

My first Charms lesson wasn't as successful, but I did well enough that I didn't draw too much attention to myself and the fact that I didn't have a wand. Before I'd started, Professor McGonagall had gone to Professor Flitwick to explain about me and why I had no knowledge of magic. He seemed like a very understanding professor. I liked him.

By the end of the day I was ready to just fall into bed. Hermione smiled as we took our things back up to the dormitory. I flopped into a squashy armchair by the fire while we waited for Ginny and the two boys.

"Did you enjoy your first day?" she asked, sitting across from me. I lifted my head off the back of the chair.

"I did. It's harder than I thought it would be though."
Hermione nodded. "I know. I found that it was harder than I thought it would be too. You did really great today though and I'm sure you'll do well tomorrow. Remus is an excellent professor. Actually, you don't really have to deal with…um…bad professors."
My mind drifted to Professor Snape. I'd managed to get on his wrong side already. I'd been walking down the hallways with Harry, because he'd been kind enough to show me a couple short cuts. I'd run headlong into Professor Snape.

"Do pay attention!" he'd snarled, an ugly scowl creasing his colourless face. He glared down at me and brushed himself off as he walked away. I stared after him.

"Don't mind him," Harry had said softly. We started walking again. "He doesn't like anybody but Slytherin students."

I had stared at my cousin. "But I didn't do anything to him. I bumped into him, is all."
Harry scoffed. "That's reason enough."

"How'd it go?" Ginny asked, bringing me back to the present. I grinned and told her about my day. Hermione told Ginny about my managing the matchstick into a needle on my second try. Ginny, who had been around magic her whole life, appeared to be impressed.

I didn't know for sure if they actually were, or if they were just trying to make me feel like I was doing well, but I appreciated it all the same. I felt a tiny bit out of place and I was feeling a little homesick. It would have been easier if I didn't have to pretend that I'd never met Remus before, but I understood their reasons for that.

"What have you got tomorrow?" Ginny asked me, pulling a few books out of her bag and setting them on the table. She looked at me expectantly.

"Defence Against the Dark Arts," Hermione answered for me.

I laughed. "What she said," I agreed.

"Ooh," Ginny said with a grin. "First lesson with Professor Lupin."
"Well, not really Ginny," Hermione said under her breath. "He did give her a lesson on Tuesday."

Ginny waved her hand. "Yeah, but that wasn't a real class. I mean, you learned just as much, I'm sure, but a real class is with other students. Will it be Remus or Sirius teaching you?"
"Remus," I answered. He and Sirius were going to be taking turns to teach. Ginny grinned at me.

"Good. They're both excellent professors, but there's something special about Remus."

I smiled, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my chin on them. I missed being around Remus every day.

I watched as the others pulled out books that would help them with their homework. I didn't have any myself yet. I finally sighed and opened one of the books Hermione had recommended. Hogwarts, A History.

I lost track of everything as I started to read about everything from the four founders to the enchanted ceiling in the Great Hall to the legend of the Chamber of Secrets. I barely answered when Ginny finally said good night.

*

"Why are you shaking? Remus isn't going to ask you questions in front of everyone."

I stared at Harry and set down my goblet of pumpkin juice. It had been in danger of falling anyway.

"I don't know why I'm shaking. I am very nervous and I'm not sure why."

Harry smiled, though his features had a pinched look, as though he had a bad headache. I was about to ask when he gave my hand a squeeze.

"Don't worry. You will do fine. Defence Against the Dark Arts prowess is in your blood. I'm good at it and so was my dad. And Remus is an excellent teacher."

I nodded, picking up my goblet again. I saw Harry glance up anxiously when the morning post arrived. I quickly scanned the owls, searching for Harry's snowy owl, Hedwig. There was no sign of her. I glanced back toward Harry. His eyes were still searching the owls.

"Is everything alright, Harry?" I asked quietly. Ron's head snapped around so suddenly that he must have cricked it.

"Something wrong?" he demanded softly. His eyes scanned Harry's face apprehensively.

Harry shook his head. "I'm fine, I was just watching for Hedwig. Not that I need to, everyone who sends me post is here. Well, except Hagrid."

Ron and Hermione exchanged a glance. I raised my eyebrows, wondering why he'd added that last comment.

I knew who Hagrid was. Remus had told me everything, finally. Hagrid had taught Care of Magical Creatures. He had stepped in front of the Killing Curse to save Harry's life and had died instantly. Just like Harry's parents. Just like mine.

I forced my mind away from that unpleasant thought. Harry had started eating his breakfast again and Ron was going on about the upcoming Quidditch match. I still had no idea about Quidditch. I had figured out it was a sport and that Harry and Ginny were the Gryffindor captains and that Ron was also on the team, but other than that, I was clueless.

"Ready for your lesson?"

I glanced up into Sirius' dancing blue eyes. He plopped down next to Harry and helped himself to a sausage off my plate. I glared at him.

"Yes…well, sort of," I answered, looking toward Remus. He glanced around and then winked at me. I smiled to myself.

"Sort of? From what I heard, you were brilliant in your classes yesterday. Why would you think you'd be anything less today?"

I flushed, looking down at my rapidly emptying plate. I moved it out of Sirius' reach and sighed.

"I wouldn't say I was 'brilliant'-" I started.

"I would," Hermione interrupted. She shot me a look that I didn't quite understand before picking up her goblet. "And you'll be just as brilliant today, I'm sure."

I wasn't quite sure how to respond to that. I picked up my fork and looked down. My plate was gone.

"Couldn't resist," Sirius said with a grin. He handed me my empty plate and went to join Remus at the head table.

I picked up my bag from the floor when it was time to head to our class. I'd just reached the doors when I felt my bag start to slip off my shoulder. I gasped and wheeled about, meaning to grab it before it fell and spilled everywhere.

I came face to face with the sneering, rat-faced boy I'd seen my first day. He held the strap of my bag in his hand. I stared up at him.

"Get out of the way, Mudblood."

I had no idea what a Mudblood was. I continued to stare.
"Are you deaf? I said move."

"You might find that 'excuse me' works wonders with me," I said quietly, finding my voice. I pulled slightly on my bag and he released it. "Add a 'please' and I would be only too happy to move."

"Shut up, Mudblood, I didn't ask for a lesson."
"And yet that's exactly what you'll get if you don't leaver her alone, Malfoy." I felt somebody come to a halt behind me and knew that Harry and Ron had returned.

"Oh, Saint Potter, here to defend the helpless and hopeless."

Harry pulled his wand and glared at the sneering blond boy. Ron was glaring daggers at him. I glanced nervously at the apparently mute body guards that stood behind my tormentor. They were probably the same age as Harry and were twice the size of Remus.

"Harry, let's just go," I said softly, resting my hand on his arm. "He's not worth it."

"What did you just say?" Malfoy shrieked. I met his gaze frostily.

"I said that it wasn't worth it, fighting with you. You aren't worth Harry getting into trouble."

"How dare you," Malfoy snarled. He pulled his wand on me. I held my chin high as he advanced.

"Mr Malfoy, that is enough," a silky voice said from behind Harry. Professor Snape, the hook nosed, sallow faced, greasy haired professor who didn't like me already, moved forward. "I would hate to have to take points from my own house too. Five points from Miss Wallace for provoking Mr Malfoy."

"Provoking?" I sputtered. "He was being rude and-"
"Come on, Jules, let's just get to class," Ron interrupted, grabbing me by the arm. Harry took my other arm and the two of them led me from the Great Hall. I glared at Snape and the rat-faced boy the whole time.

"Why the hell did you do that?" I snarled, wrenching my arms from their hands. Both boys looked back at me. "That was completely unfair, he had no right to take points from me, I did nothing wrong! And what is a Mudblood?"

Harry sighed as he started toward the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. I followed him irritably, trying to hold back the angry tears that were forming.

"With Snape, it's better to keep your mouth shut," he said finally. I stared up at him as we walked. "He's completely unfair to anybody but his own students. If he can find a way to take points from other houses, especially Gryffindor, he will. Even if it means making one up."

"That's horrible," I said furiously. "He shouldn't be allowed to teach!"

"Unfortunately, he's the best Potions professor there is," Ron admitted, albeit grudgingly.

I glared ahead, not seeing. Being good at something didn't make it okay to be a jerk.

"What is a Mudblood?" I asked again.

Harry and Ron shot angry glances at each other.

"Malfoy is an idiot," Ron snarled.

"Okay," I agreed. Harry smiled slightly.

"A Mudblood is somebody with non magic parents."
"But my-"

"Yes, we know that," Harry interrupted. "Malfoy thinks it's clever to call people Mudblood. He is constantly calling Hermione that."
"But what does it mean?"

"It's the most foul thing he can call a person. Dirty blood. Malfoy thinks that unless your family is pure magic, you're not worthy. Harry, Hermione, they are not significant because their bloodline isn't completely pure," Ron explained. I glanced at Harry.

"My mother was Muggle born," he answered my unasked question. "However, both of your parents were purebloods, so I am more Mudblood than you."

Ron glared at Harry. I wanted to ask more questions, but we'd reached the classroom by then. Remus looked up at us as we entered. His eyebrows rose at the angry looks on our faces.

"What happened to you?" Hermione hissed as we made our way over to her. She already had her books and parchment spread out around her. "I was talking away and all of a sudden I look around and you're no where to be found! Where did you go?"
"To rescue Jules," Harry said quietly. Remus stood up, his eyes still on us. "I'll explain later."
Hermione had opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it again with a snap. We all turned our attention to Remus.

The class turned out to be quite fun. Remus was a very patient, entertaining professor. He was so at ease in front of the students that they were the same around him.

"Miss Wallace, may I see you after class, please?" Remus called as everyone had started packing up. I nodded silently, wondering if I'd done something wrong. Hermione sent a suggestive smile in my direction. I shook my head, smiling to myself.

"You're not in trouble," he reassured me after everyone had gone and he had closed the door. I approached him slowly. He took hold of my shoulders and pulled me against his chest, kissing me deeply. I sighed when he finally released me. "I miss you."

"I miss you," I replied. "I feel so out of place."

"I know, I can see that."

"Harry and his friends are amazing, but I wish I could spend more time with you." I sighed and leaned against his chest. He kissed the top of my head.

"How were your Transfiguration and Charms lessons?"
I told him quickly. He beamed down at me. Then his eyes turned serious once more.

"What was going on earlier? You, Ron and Harry looked pretty geared up."

I grimaced and told him about the boy named Malfoy calling me a Mudblood and about Professor Snape taking points from me. He scowled in annoyance.

"Well," he said slowly, his eyes stormy. "Five points to Gryffindor then."

"For what?"

"For catching on so quickly. Or for being beautiful. Take your pick."

I felt my face heat up. I smiled up at Remus and leaned up to give him a kiss as the door opened.

"Remus!" We both jumped apart guiltily and stared at Sirius. He closed the door and sealed it with a spell I didn't hear. "You both ought to know better! I could have been anybody! Snape, for certain, would have gone berserk!"
"I am thirty years old," I told Sirius angrily.

"He doesn't know that, does he? As far as he knows, you are a student and Remus is a teacher. And he would have a field day with that, Jules."

I looked at the floor. I knew Sirius was right, but I still didn't like being scolded by him.

"I'm sorry," I said with difficulty. I suddenly felt like being by myself. I nodded at the two of them and left the room.

I didn't really watch where I was going. All I knew is that I wanted to be alone. I needed to do some thinking.

I wasn't overly surprised when I found myself standing outside the doors to the library. I had figured that I'd end up there on my own sooner or later.

I entered quietly, glancing around for Madam Pince, the librarian. I set my bag on a table and started down the rows, glancing at the titles. I must have searched for a quarter of an hour before one caught my eye.

I don't know how I noticed it, but I did. It was a tiny book, not much bigger than my hand, and it was simply entitled Godric Gryffindor. I carefully slid it off the shelf and moved back to my table. I rested my head on my bag as I opened the book and started to read.

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Hi everyone. I know it's been nearly a month since my last update, and I do apologise…however a bad case of writer's block, as well as a new puppy, have made it hard for me to do this chapter. I know it's not as long as the others, but I hope you enjoy it and I will try to have the next chapter up by the end of the week. No promises though =). (Also, if anyone has any tips about housebreaking and maybe how to stop a puppy from digging…I would be happy to hear them!!)

As always, please review and let me know what you think!