A/N: Just so you know, I updated chapter 3. There is a very important change in there for chapter 5, so yeah…
Still don't own anything…
Chapter 4: Getting Settled
"Remus! OY MOONY!" Sirius yelled across the common room. Everyone in the school was used to James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter calling each other by their quite random names. Sirius even encouraged some to call them the Marauders, which spread through the school like wildfire.
A boy was sitting in front of an unlit fire. He was curled up in an elegant chair with a rather thick book in his hands propped up against his knees. His head shot up at the sound of his name.
"Have you even started to study for History yet, Padfoot?" he said tiredly to Sirius, who had just run up to Remus.
"Since when do I study?" Sirius answered. "But let's not talk about school work right now."
"Oh yes, what else would we talk about in school then?" Remus muttered sarcastically.
"How about our two new classmates?"
As if on cue, Lily and Hermione stepped through the portrait.
"So what did you say your classes were again?" Hermione asked Lily.
"Well, I want to be a Healer, so I have to take Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Charms, too."
"I just want to take so many classes; I don't know how it will all fit!" Hermione said.
Lily and Hermione walked up to Sirius and Remus.
Hermione had to fight her laugh at the sight of the younger Remus; he looked so pale and small.
"Moony, this is Hermione Snicket," Sirius said. "'Mione, this is Remus Lupin."
Remus, being the kind gentleman he was, stood up at the introduction. "Hello, Hermione."
"Hi Prof—Er, Remus," Hermione said. It felt so awkward to call your former teacher by his first name.
"Where are you from?" Remus asked politely, striking up a conversation piece.
"Oh, from Durmstrang."
"Why'd you switch?"
"This school just seemed better," Hermione lied. "The Dark Magic isn't really mine, or Harry's thing."
"Harry?" Remus repeated.
Sirius brightened. "Oh yeah, Remus. You should see this. Where are those two?" he asked Hermione.
She just shrugged. She had been so engrossed in Lily's conversation that she hadn't noticed anything else. Lily was so incredibly nice and cheerful. But Hermione had mentioned James' name and Lily's eyes just clouded over with dislike. Hermione decided that she and Harry would have to change that.
"Aha! There they are," Sirius said.
A thoroughly pissed off Harry stepped through the portrait, or was it James? No, a saddened James entered seconds after. Harry made a beeline for Hermione. He laced his fingers through hers. Sirius and Remus noticed this action and then glared at Harry, though no one noticed.
Hermione could sense the tension. "Is everything all right?" she asked Harry.
"Fine," he gritted through his teeth. "We just met someone along our way."
"Who?" Sirius asked, forgetting about Harry's hand in Hermione's for the moment.
"Snivellus," James said moodily.
"Snivellus?" Hermione repeated.
"Severus. Snape," Harry said between clenched teeth.
"Snape?" Hermione repeated again, this time amazed. "What did he do?"
"He didn't do anything to us. He," Harry said pointedly to James, "did something to him."
"Wait, how do you know Snivelly?" Sirius asked Hermione.
"Would anyone mind telling me who you are?" Remus asked loudly, looking at Harry.
"Oh, sorry, I'm Harry Thewler," Harry said, sticking out his hand.
Remus took his hand and said, "Remus Lupin."
"Ugh, can't you ever leave Severus alone?" Lily said to James.
"What?" James yelped. "It was in self-de—"
"Come on, Hermione," Lily said morosely. She dragged Hermione away from Harry. "I'll show you your room."
"See you guys at dinner then," Hermione called out to the Marauders plus Harry.
As Lily dragged Hermione up the staircase, Hermione finally wriggled out of Lily's grasp.
"Lily, what's a matter?" she asked once they entered the dormitories.
"Your bed is the one next to mine," Lily said pointing.
"Lily," Hermione said warningly.
"All right, since you're new here, I'll enlighten you," Lily said while falling onto her bed. "You see, it all starts with James. He apparently really likes me. Kind of ironic, because I don't like him, at all. He could have any girl in this school, so he's 'Mr. Popular', but no. He has this fixation on me."
"But why don't you like him?" Hermione dared to ask. It seemed as if Lily was one of those girls who could blow up at any second.
"Because he's an arrogant bullying prat!" she screeched. Lily took a second to calm down. "He hexes anyone he can for fun. He shows off his Quidditch skills all the time. He always gets in trouble with Black."
Hermione noticed Lily was ranting and decided to stop it. "Ok, I was just curious. We can stop talking about them if you like." Lily nodded. "All right… when do classes start?" Hermione asked, steering the conversation as far from the Marauders.
"Oh," Lily brightened up at the subject of classes. "We just started our classes yesterday, so after dinner, you might want to talk to Professor McGonagoll about your schedule. I would recommend taking…" and they spent the rest of their time before dinner talking about classes and courses, teachers and students (minus Harry and the Marauders).
Back down stairs in the common room, Harry was talking to the Marauders.
"So James, you're the Seeker for Gryffindor?" Harry asked James.
"The best there is," James said proudly.
Harry looked at Sirius and Remus. "Are you two on the team?"
"No, we leave the brutal games you all call fun sports to James," Remus said.
"Yes, to Mr. Quidditch Captain," Sirius chimed in.
"You're the Quidditch Captain?" Harry asked James in amazement. No one had told him anything of the sort.
"Yep, just got the job this year. Now, you said you were Seeker for your team?"
"The best there is," Harry mocked lightly.
James looked downhearted.
"What's wrong with being a Seeker?" Harry asked.
"Well, I was hoping you'd consider joining our team," James said slowly. "You see, we're missing a Chaser this year and I'm having a hard time convincing anybody to join." He paused. "I don't suppose you'd like to try out, would you?"
Harry beamed. He would be playing Quidditch with his father. All right, so it wasn't his favorite position, but it would do. "Sure, it'd be fun."
James punched the air triumphantly. "Brilliant! I'll have to host a bona fide tryout, but you'll most likely win. From what I've heard of you tales, you're almost as good as me!"
Harry rolled his eyes. He definitely had to tone down his father's ego. Uncomfortable silence followed their conversation.
Sirius decided to start up a fresh new topic. The first thing he thought of was, of course, girls. "So what's with you and Hermione?" he asked.
Remus perked up at the sound of her name. Harry, on the other hand, just looked up lazily.
"We're friends. Well, maybe a bit more, but we're not quite sure yet," Harry said in a thoughtful tone that Loony Lovegood would be proud of.
Sirius and Remus cheered up at the sound of 'friends'. Both noticed this and glared at each other.
"Are you two the only two who transferred over?" Remus asked.
At that comment, a picture of Ron flashed in his mind. "Uh huh," Harry said sadly.
Right on time, a small, mousy boy hopped through the portrait, but missed the edge by a few inches and toppled into the common room.
"Beautiful entrance, Wormtail," Sirius said sarcastically.
The boy blushed and waddled over to the Marauders. He had just noticed the new boy.
"Blimey!" Peter shouted. "James, why didn't you tell me you had a twin?"
"'Cuz he doesn't, numbskull," Sirius said. "This is his second cousin once removed on his mother's—"
"Father's," Harry corrected.
"—Father's side," Sirius said.
"He just transferred over here from Durmstrang along with a girl," Remus explained.
"Oh, cool," Peter said. "Well, hi. I'm Peter Pettigrew," Peter introduced, sticking out his pudgy hand.
Harry glanced at it warily. "Harry Thewler," he said stiffly, shaking Peter's hand reluctantly. If it hadn't been for the other three Marauders being present, he would have punched the crap out Wormtail.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
After dinner, Harry and Hermione left the squabbling James and Lily and the silent pair of Remus and Sirius to see Professor McGonagoll. They walked up to the High Table and waited quietly for her to finished talking to a younger Professor Flitwick.
"What can I do for you, Potter?" Professor McGonagoll asked at long last.
"I—wait, how did you—Oops. Er, my name is Harry Thewler and this is Hermione Snicket."
"Ah yes, the new students," she said. "Sorry, but you look remarkably like James Potter. What can I do for you?"
"We need to talk about our classes," Hermione said.
"Oh, right, of course. This way." McGonagoll led them out of the Grand Hall all the way to her office.
"Now, since you have missed your fifth year in this, ahem, time," she said, "you will just have to tell me what classes you were planning on taking and truthfully how well you did on your exams." She looked at Harry. "Let's start with you P—Thewler."
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
By the time the Marauders went to bed, Harry and Hermione had still not come back from their meeting with McGonagoll.
All four boys were wide awake. All wanted to talk about the new arrivals.
"So what do you think of Hermione?" Remus asked, trying to sound offhand.
Sirius whistled. "Man, she's hot," he said.
James threw a pillow at Sirius. "She seems extremely nice," James said. "What do you think Moony?"
"I kinda like her," Remus said after a long pause.
"She is really smart," James said encouragingly. "I heard her and Evans talking about classes all the way up to the common room. She seems to like studying a lot."
"I think her and Remus would make a fine couple," Peter said. Everyone stared at him. "What? The whole studying, smart thing going on. Hey, I was just saying what everybody was thinking."
"You are all forgetting about Harry," Sirius said more moodily than he planned.
"What about him?" James asked.
"I think he likes 'Mione," Remus said gloomily.
"Naw," James said, "you'll win her heart," he said faithfully.
'Not if I can get there first' Sirius thought maniacally.
'What are you talking about, Padfoot?' thought another part of Sirius' mind. 'You don't even know the girl yet!'
Sirius' thoughts were interrupted by their dormitory room opening. In popped Harry's face.
"Hey Thewler," James said. "How'd your meeting go with McGonagoll?"
Harry let out a groan as his flopped down on his bed. "I swear, she would have been questioning me all night if she had the chance."
"What's your best class?" Sirius asked.
"Er, most people would say Defense Against the Dark Arts. Yours?"
"Transfiguration," James answered automatically.
"Ancient Runes, probably," Remus said.
"Defense, too," Sirius said.
"I prefer Care of Magical Creatures," mumbled Peter. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm very tired. Good night."
James chuckled. "G' night Peter. Actually, good night everyone." And James closed the curtains around the bed. Harry, Remus, and Sirius had no choice but to follow suit.
It pained Harry to see James treat Peter to kindly. All that ran through his mind when he saw Peter was 'How could he do that to his friend's?' That night Harry's dreams were plagued with the night of the Potter's betrayal.
*~ Back at Present Day ~*
The disappearance of Harry and Hermione troubled everyone. Especially Ron. Where had they gone to? All Fred and George said was that they disappeared the moment they stepped into the study at midnight. To ease everyone's mind, they set off to clean the study Hermione and Harry had started the night before.
Remus was there at breakfast, so he decided to help out everyone too. In the middle of dusting a bookshelf (an inch of dust covered every single book in there), Remus received what felt like a pound in the head. He placed a hand on his forehead, and then collapsed into a nearby chair at the impact.
Mrs. Weasley and Ginny rushed over to him.
"Are you all right, Remus dear?" Mrs. Weasley asked worriedly.
Remus' head shot up. "I remember… I know where Harry and Hermione are."
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
A/N: I really don't like this chapter, but I couldn't really do anything else. I have already started writing the next chapter (English and History class, ya gotta love it), so there is more action there.
Thank you, kitsune-oni, for the corrections. Unfortunately, I noticed those mistakes a bit too late.
Just so you all know, there isn't going to be too much time line switching during the middle of the story (I hope). And I'm sorry, but I just had to change the plot a little bit. The Remus and Sirius rivalry just fit in perfectly.
I hope you all loved it so much you want to update!