Times of the Past Alyssa's Story Chapter 1: Welcome to Hogwarts!, a harry potter fanfic

Disclaimer : I own nothing! and if i did, trust me, peter'd be worse'n dead, james n lily woulda had twenty kids and lived to a ripe old age, and sirius would be a manwhore until the end.. but noooo.. also, if it was my choice, REMUS'S NAME WOULD BE.. BOB! ok, not really, but anyway, all this stuff 'cept Alyssa and Kylie belong to senorita Rowling

"Give it up Siri, I'm not doing it."

"Aw, c'mon Lyss!" I groaned as the boy in front of me gave me his irresistable puppy eyes.

"UGH FINE!" I grabbed his arm ("Yippeee! I love you!") and practically threw him back into the compartment.

Ok, by now, you're probably lost, so I'll attempt to explain the crazy magical world that I have taken part in for the past five years.

When I was 11 years old, I was rudely awoken by some damned owl that flew through my window. I attempted to get the thing to fly away, but it didn't do any good. The

thing was determined. Finally, I gave in and rolled out of bed to examine it further. In its beak, it had a rolled up peice of what looked like parchment. Rolling my eyes, I

unrolled the thing only to find out that I had recieved a letter from a man named "Albus Dumbledore" and that I had been accepted into a magical school of some sort called

"Hogwarts".

And that's how it all started. I had only moved to England less than a year before recieving that letter, and was just picking up on the ways of the non-magical

Englishpeople (Muggles, as I later learned), and now I had to learn the ways of the wizards. Fun, fun.

So, shortly after recieving the letter of acceptance, I made my way to Diagon Alley, then to Platform 9 3/4. I had suspected it was all a joke or prank, but it wasn't,

and before I knew it, poof, I was on the Hogwarts Express. While I was on the Express, I had run (well, tripped over) a cocky, black haired punk, who happened to be a

2nd year. After he and I had a rather loud arguement about who's fault it was, we introduced ourselves. Sirius Black and I have been close friends every since.

Not long after I met Sirius, I was sorted into his house (Gryffindor) and was introduced to his best friend, James Potter. James was a carbon copy of Sirius,

personality wise. By my 2nd year, I regularly hung (is hung a word?) out with Sirius and James. About mid-year in 2nd year, we recieved a "transfer student" as

Dumbledore called him. Sirius and James tried to stay away from him, but I became friends with him, and eventually, he started hangin out with us. Remus Lupin, like

Sirius and James, was a 3rd year. I was fine hangin out with them, but I kind of wanted someone my age to hang out with us. And, as it happened, in 3rd year, Peter

Pettigrew joined the group. Unfortunately, Peter and I just didn't.. bond.. like the guys wanted. We got along just fine, but I have a hard time being nice to anyone shorter

than me, and because I'm currently 5'2 and he was 4'9, he fell under the Too-Short-For-My-Liking-and-or-Respect list.

Ahh, lists.. there are many weird/geeky/annoying/crazy/just plain.. psycho habits I have, and lists are one. The guys have learned just not to even ask anymore. I also have

an obsession with leprachauns and monkeys, which is why James bought me a (real!) pet monkey for my 15th birthday.

And now, that brings me back. See, the Mauraders are infamous (or famous? I never get those two right) for their pranks, and there we were not even at Hogwarts yet and

they had one up their sleeve. Now, because Remus and I are prefects, if we get caught for joining in on their little.. adventures.. we could get into more trouble than normal.

Unfortunately, though, they had used Remus for an alibi one too many times, and now his credit was worn thin, as far as Professor McGonagall's concern. So, now they

had one more source, one person that had a relatively clean slate and had all the teachers' trust : me.

"She agreed!" whooped Sirius, plopping down in the seat. He and James gave each other a high five, while Remus observed me with a slightly amused expression. I

shrugged at him, knowing he knew as well as I that I would end up saying yes. I silently dared him to say one word, however, because my pride is something that is NOT

to be messed with. He wisely remained quiet.

"Yeah, yeah, what's the game plan again?" I slid some of Peter's books off off the seats and sat down.

"Hey my books!" Peter narrowed his eyes at me. I narrowed mine back. After he looked away (he can't look someone in the eye for more than five seconds) I looked back

at Remus, the one who normally thought out the plans of action.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do.."

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I know most people are bored by it, but I think the Sorting is actually kinda cool. I could tell by the loud growling of the stomachs, however, that the boys disagreed.

"They should have the Feast FIRST," muttered Sirius, looking mournfully at the empty table. My friend Lily Evans rolled her eyes at him, and motioned for him to pay

attention. I gave her a smile, but she just shook her head at me. She doesn't understand why I hang out with "those obnoxious toerags". Personally, I'm not sure myself.

Remus isn't so bad, but Sirius, James, and Peter can be downright annoying. But somehow, I still love them, in that God-you're-annoying-would-you-please-shut-up-before-

I-smash-your-head-into-a-wall way. But then again, that's how they feel about me, most likely. Now don't get me wrong, Remus is just as psycho as the others, but he just

has a quieter way of coming about it. I have noticed one mistake people constantly make, though. Most say "I would rather Lupin prank me than Black or Potter." Well,

these people are terribly wrong. I learned the hard way about guys, especially guys like Remus; the quiestest are the most dangerous.

Anyway, back to the feast. The Sorting finally ended ("Zankrell, Lina - Hufflepuff!") and the guys were currently stuffing their faces with chicken legs and anything else they

could get their hands on. A lot of the food I had never tried until I arrived at Hogwarts; being American had its disadvantages. Not only did I get lost in some of the most dry

senses of humor, but the guys constantly gave me a hard time about my South-Coast American accent (I go to my grandparents for holidays, so it never fully wears off).

"Look at em," commented Alice King, a fellow 5th year. She raised her eyebrow at her boyfriend, Frank Longbottom. He glanced up at us. "What?" he asked, frowning.

"It's good!" Alice and I laughed, then went back to eating ourselves. I can only act civilized for so long, my stomach hates being ignored. Besides, I wasn't ABOUT to let

Sirius eat all the mashed potatoes.

"Settle down, please?" Charms Professor Flitwick struggled to be heard. In front, a few Slytherins picked him up and began to randomly pass him around. The

Slytherins, who were obviously bored, began to use some kind of magic to pull down his pants. The professor was humiliated, but, due to a silencing spell, didn't

make a sound. Now, I'm not one of those people who go around telling people to leave teachers alone, but I've always had a soft spot for midgets, and Professor Flitwick

was no exception.

I angrily stood up on my desk. "PUT HIM DOWN RIGHT NOW!" People know me well enough to know that you don't mess with Alyssa Kaufman when she's in a bad

mood. Well, scratch that, most people. Unfortunately, Bellatrix Black continued to torture the poor professor. Yes, Black. Cousin to Sirius. 'Course, Sirius is hated by all

his family for his assosiation to muggle-borns, but still.

"What're you going to do if we don't?" Bellatrix taunted. "I'm not 'fraid of no Mudblood." I narrowed my eyes. Being a prefect, I could easily dock points from Slytherin, but I

had a strange feeling that that alone wouldn't stop them; in fact, it would encourage them even further.

"Alice," I whispered, "Go get McGonnagall." I figured it'd be the easiest thing to do. Alice nodded and quietly sneaked out of the class. I watched her go, then turned back

to the Slytherins.

"Bellatrix, I'm warning you, PUT him down." The girl was startin' to piss me off now, and, growing up in Texas, America, I knew a good many cuss words she probably

hadn't even heard of.

Thankfully, at that time, Lily Evans (Head Girl) showed up.

"WHAT," she yelled loudly, her face matching her red hair, "IN MERLINS NAME," her eyes closed in on the Slytherins as she drew her wand, "IS GOING ON HERE?" she

used her wand to lower Professor Flitwick and take of the silencing spell. He stumbled to his desk.

"Hey, Mudbloods, you better watch out," called Black, her face gleeful. "Voldemort just might like two little-" Lily silently casted the body-binding spell on Bellatrix, causing

her body to first freeze, then lock to the floor.

Lily's face was a mask, hiding her emotions, but I had a pretty good idea the words "I-HATE-BLACKS" and "MUST-NOT-KILL" were a few of the many running through her

head. Lily strode over to Professor Flitwick and, after making sure he was okay, levitated Black and began to exit the room.

"Mudblood", "Slut", and "Brown Noser" were just a few of the names Lily was called by Slytherins as she left. Her face remained blank, and she, with her hostage levitating

in the air a few feet in front of her, left the room.

"Crazy," muttered Remus. Sirius, obviously pissed at his family, just stared down, face set. We were sitting around the fire in the common room, and I had just re-

told the events from Charms. James stared into the fire, and Peter, oblivious, read over his Transfiguration notes. I shook my head at Peter, then turned back to look at the

others when I noticed Remus's eyes on me. I frowned, noticing the increasingly obvious way his skin was paling, and the haggard look in his eyes.

"Remus," I said, "can I talk to you?" Without letting him answer, I stood up and went to the far corner. Remus followed.

"What's wrong?" I asked him, frowning deeply. His face was practically white as a ghost (no offense meant to any of the Hogwarts Ghosts), and his eyes had no look of life

in them whatsoever.

"Nothin, Lyss, I'm just tired," he said, not meeting my eyes. Ook, weird.

"Why don't you go rest up some?" I suggested, not missing the dark bags under his eyes.

He smiled vaguely. "I'm fine," he said firmly. His choice, if that's how he wants to act, then fine.

I shrugged at him, then turned and went back to the guys, who were now in a heated discussion over Voldemort. Moments later, Remus re-joined us.

"What're ya'll talkin bout?" I rolled my eyes. They got quiet and exchanged glances with each other.

"Do you realize how.. Southern.. you sounded?" chuckled Sirius.

"Ah, shup Siri, 'n' don't change the subject.. whatcha'll talkin bout?"

James grinned. "You know what.. she just may be able to help us."

I glanced at his face, then at Sirius's, and slowly backed away. I did NOT like the sound or look of that one bit.

"Ohh Lyssiii," sang Sirius jollily.

"Oh shit," I muttered.