One Last Shot

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to JK, not me. Savvy?

Jane woke early in the morning to the sound of tapping on the window. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and glanced at the clock on Meghan's desk. 5:18 AM, ugh. She stumbled to the window, nearly tripping on Snape's bed. She whispered an apology, got a sleepy grunt in reply, and moved to the window. The owl sat on the windowsill while Jane removed the mail from its leg, then soared off into the pale morning light.

Four letter, one addressed to each person in the room. Jane threw the letters onto their owner's desks, then sat down to read hers.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warllock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Miss Summers,

We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary boks and equpiment.

Term begins on 1 eptember. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Underneath, in a long flowing hand that Jane recognized as Dumbledore's, it read:

Miss Summers, due to the circumstance of your admittance, no owl is required. I will contact you during the next month to arrange your classes.

Albus Dumbledore

Jane smiled and reached for her supples list, but another owl tapping on the window pulled her away. Why had she closed that window?

Careful not to trip on Snape's bed again, Jane opened the window to take the letter. The bird snapped at her and landed on Alison's bed. It began pecking at her face.

'Ugh, bloody bird!' Alison mumbled, raising her arms to her head. 'Here, bloody thing, gimme the- OW! Stupid pigeon.' The owl bit her again, dropping the parchment on her chest, then took off.

'Good morning Alison.'

'What's so good about it? I just got assaulted by a rat with wings. I'm bleeding! Oh, Merlin, what if I die? Jane, promise me you'll avenge my death!'

Meghan threw her pillow. 'Shut up, Alison. It's too early for your stupidity.'

'I could stun her,' Snape offered through a yawn.

'No! I'll be good, I swear! Stupid bird, blood everywhere...'

'Who was the letter from, Alison?' Jane asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

'Hmm? Oh, Lily. I told you about her, yeah?' She scanned the letter. 'She wants to go shopping tomorrow now that we've got our... our letters?'

'They're on your desks,' Jane told her. 'Can I come?'

'Of course, I'll just-'

'Shut up, Alison!'

The next day at 7:30 AM, Jane and Alison left their room to meet Lily on the muggle side of the Leaky Cauldron.

'Why does she want to start so bloody early?' Jane asked around a yawn as Alison closed and locked the orphanage door.

'She likes to start early, bloody morning person. Here, drink this; it'll perk you right up.' Alison handed the younger girl a phial filled with bright red liquid.

'A Pepper-Up? You seriously want me to drink this?'

'Don't worry, it's not strong enough to do anything but wake you up. I have Severus brew it that way for this purpose exactly. Trust me, by mid-morning, you'll be thankful for it.'

'Hey Alison!' Jane heard a girl shout a few minutes later. 'Good morning!'

'Indeed it is, Lily, indeed it is,' Alison agreed as Lily walked up. 'This is Jane, just arrived at my humble abode last week. Told you about her, didn't I? Jane, this is Lily, my best friend in the whole of Hogwarts.'

'Nice to meet you, Jane,' Lily said, shaking her hand. 'Alison did tell me about you, about how you've wrecked her life. Certainly not the type to hang around with all day.' She grinned. 'What did you do to her that got her so mad?'

'She thought I was a muggle. I'd be upset too, I suppose,' Jane explained. She looked over at Alison; the teen was frowning.

'I did apologize, right?' she asked. 'You know I didn't really mean any of it, Jane. Anyway, ready to shop?'

'Yes!' Lily said quickly.

'Erm, sure?' Jane guessed. 'But I don't have any money.'

'Right, forgot about that. We'll have to go open your account then. Shall we do that first?' Lily suggested. Alison shrugged, the expression on her face clearly saying that she didn't care. They left the street for the Leaky Cauldron. A few taps of Lily's wand on seemingly solid brick later, and the three girls were in Diagon Alley.

'Is this your first time here?' Lily asked Jane.

'Of course it is, Lily. She's from a muggle family,' Alison answered for her.

'How would I know that, Alison? I just met her.'

'She lives in a muggle orphanage,' Alison pointed out. 'Therefore, what else-'

'Let's go to the bank,' Jane interupted. 'I hear it's run by goblins.'

Alison smiled, forgeting about her argument, and led the way down the street through the few witches and wizards present.

Passing through the bronze entrance doors and pausing at the silver, Jane stopped to read the poem. Lily stopped as well, and said, 'We shoud get some ice cream later and get to know each other.'

'"Enter, stranger, but take heed,"' Jane quoted while Alison protested that 8 AM was far too early to have ice cream without chocolate frogs, and she had left hers on her desk.

Ractnuk, the banker-in-training, led the girls to an office, returning a moment later with some papers, ink, and a quill. 'Which of you is setting up the account?' he asked.

'The smallest,' Alison answered, glancing at the papers. 'We're not here to set up a will.' She pointed to the title on the first page.

A bit of colour appeared on the goblin's cheeks, and he left to get the correct form. Throwing them on the desk, he grunted, 'Fill them out and bring them to the front desk,' before storming out. Jane thought she heard him say, 'I need a drink.'

'I think you've offended him,' she said. 'Goblin's don't like to be corrected, do they?'

'Did you want to write a will? I didn't think so,' Alison replied.

Lily cleared her throat. 'Could you just start, please? I want my ice cream!'

Jane chuckled. 'How are you not fat?' She wondered jokingly. 'OK. "One, what is your full name?"' Jane read. She picked up the quill, inked it, and wrote her name. '"Two, what are your reasons for requesting a government grant?" It's a grant? I thought Dumbledore said it was a loan.'

'It is a loan. The goblin gave us a different form. I'll be right back.'

Five minutes later, Alison returned with the proper papers. 'Their filing system is awful. I found this in with the magical creatures request forms. Anyway, get to work. It's a bit long.' She handed Jane the form; it was at least two inches thick.

Picking up the quill, Jane sighed. 'Stupid parchement,' she muttered.

Two hours later, Lily, Alison and Jane walked out of the bank, each of them carrying more money than what they went in with. Alison complained that it was too late to have ice cream with chocolate frogs, and Lily asked her if Every Flavour Beans would do. Alison pouted, but led the way to the ice cream parlour.

'Good morning ladies,' someone said just outside the shop. He had straight black hair and stunningly dark eyes. He reminded Jane of the pictures of Sirius that Harry had, before she reminded herself that she didn't know a Harry anymore.

'Good morning Sirius,' Alison replied sadly. 'It's too late for chocolate frogs with ice cream.'

Sirius shook his head. 'My dear girl, it's never too late for that,' he said, sounding quite a bit like Dumbledore. He even had a twinkle in his eyes. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a box. 'For your ice cream, if I can keep the card.'

'Where are the other idiots?' Lily asked. 'Your friends, I mean. Sorry.'

'Inside. We saw you coming, so I waited. Who's the mini?'

'You can call me Jane,' the young girl answered, offering her hand. 'Nice to meet you, Sirius. Can I call you that?'

'Sure,' he answered, shaking Jane's hand. 'Well, she's not shy, is she? First year?'

'Erm, I'm not really sure. Dumbledore's going to be testing me to see what level I'm at. I was home-schooled a bit by a neighbour, so I'm too advanced to be in the first year.'

'Interesting. And what house do-'

'I want my ice cream!' Alison interupted. She grabbed Lily's and Jane's hands and dragged them inside. Sirius followed with a smile.

'Hey Lily, Alison,' a teeneged boy with light brown hair said.

'Hello Remus,' Lily replied. 'Good summer so far?'

'Most of it. All but two weeks ago.' Jane wondered briefly if that was the full moon. 'Yours?'

'Terrible. Bloody sister still does nothing but torment me and take my things. You'd think she'd have grown out of it by now.'

Another boy- James Potter, Jane quickly realized- handed Lily an ice cream. 'Don't worry, Evans. I'll make it better.'

'Sod off, Potter.'

'Now is that any way to talk to the love of your life?'

'Is that? How many lovers call each other by their last names?'

'Oh, you want to be my lover now?'

'Dear Merlin, help me...'

At this, Jane stopped listening and pushed past them to get to the front of the shop. 'Single scoop of vanilla, please,' she ordered, handing the girl behind the counter a sickle. The girl gave her an ice cream and fifteen knuts, and Jane sat down deside Alison, across from Sirius.

'Who's this?' Remus asked, sitting down.

'I'm Jane. Nice to meet you.'

'I'm Remus. Have you met James yet?'

'No, but by the way Lily's acting towards him, I don't think I want to.'

'Oi, James!' Sirius shouted. 'Meet Jane.'

'Who, the ankle-biter?'

'Sod you, James,' Jane said conversationally, nodding her head toward him. He returned the words, and the jestures.

'She's more mature than you are, James. Is Peter here today?' Alison asked. 'And do sit down, you two.'

'No, unfortunately. He's got family visiting,' Remus answered.

'Good. I hate him.'

'Now that's not very nice, Alison,' Sirius scolded. 'Apologize.'

'Sorry, Sirius. Here's your card. It's Circe.'

Lily sat beside Remus, and James, pulling a chair from a another table, scooted in between them. 'Wow, Paddie,' he said. 'You gave up your last chocolate frog.'

'You must be in love,' Remus added.

Sirius grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at Alison, who blushed lightly and smacked his arm. 'Stop it,' she warned, 'or you'll be attacked by vicious man-eating turkeys.'

'If that's the price of your love, I'll take my chances,' Sirius replied. Alison smacked him again.

The day passed quickly, with only a few fights between Lily and James. Remus said it was a record. Around noon, Jane's new group of friends ran into Snape and a few Slytherins, and if Jane hadn't known that Snape and Alison got along quite well in private, she would've missed just how much fun they were having fighting with each other.

Soon after Snape and his friends disappeared, Alison darted into a second-hand shop and bought something quite large that she wouldn't identify for the others. They spent an hour in that shop, the girls trying on tacky clothes and trying to put together the worst outfits (Lily won, but just barely) and the boys pestering Alison about whatever it was she bought.

'Merlin's balls, Sirius!' Alison screamed angrily after the boy executed a particularly pathetic plan to get the oversized paper bag away from her. 'If you try to accio it one more time, I will hex off your hand and shove your wand somewhere unpleasant!'

Sirius paled and muttered, 'Sorry Ali, but you're not supposed to keep secrets in this group.'

'I will keep secrets if I bloody well want to, Sirius Black!' After a few moments, she added in a much more comfortable voice, 'Did you ever consider that I'm not letting you see it because it's for you?'

The boy's face lit up. 'Is it?' he asked hopefully.

'No.'

'Alison!' Sirius whined as everyone else laughed. 'That's really mean!'

'As mean as spelling my skin green for a week?' Alison challenged.

'That was in fourth year! You can't use that anymore.'

'Sure I can.'

'Remus, make her share!'

'Don't drag me into this, Padfoot. I'm the only one who hasn't been on the recieving end of a pissed-off Alison, and I'd like to keep it that way.'

'Fine,' Sirius pouted, then smiled. 'What shall we do for lunch? I'm starved.'

'Piss off, Sirius,' Alison said, swatting his hand away. 'Eat your own food.'

'The bag of mystery or the food, Alison. You must share one.'

'Fine. If you share your food, you can have some salad.'

'Great! You can have all the chips you want,' Sirius promised, reaching onto Alison's plate for some salad.

She glared at him. 'Use the fork next time. I don't know where those hands have been.'

'Sure. Want some chicken?'

'I'm a vegetarian, remember?'

'Since when?'

'Since I was fourteen.'

'You used to tease her about it, Paddie.' James reminded him.

'Oh, right. Alison, would you prefer to be a brussel sprout or a carrot?'

'I'm a lima bean.'

'Do you ever have trouble understanding them?' Jane asked Lily.

'No, but I've known Alison since we were six, and she's a lot worse than Sirius. You'll get it eventually, though. Don't worry.'

When everyone was done with lunch, they split up into their original groups and finished with their shopping. Lily, Alison and Jane got their school supplies, and were out of Diagon Alley by three o'clock. Walking in muggle London to Lily's house, they talked with Jane about what to expect at Hogwarts, trying to protect her from stories the boys had no doubt scared her with. They promised to meet for shopping again before the summer was over, and Alison and Jane walked back to their summer home.

Does anybody want to write a sorting song for me please?

Sorry about the lateness of this, but I didn't have working internet for the longest time (three months). Anyway, don't throw things at me, please.

I'm a fermata; hold me.
Jibs