Disclaimer: It´s not mine, belongs to J.K.R. (except for the story and the OC, hehehe ).
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Chapter 2: Questions, Explanations And Apologies
Felicity took a deep breath and entered the Great Hall only to see many of the students seated behind four long tables, each one for different House.
Taking another step forward, many heads turned to stare at her, whispering, pointing. Slowly, she walked to the Gryffindor table. As she did, she looked at the High Table, her grandfather giving her the thumbs-up sign. She snorted.
There was a vacant seat next to group of four boys and a red-headed girl. Felicity decided to seat herself next to them, anyway, it would be good to make some friends at all.
Short after occupying the vacant seat, she still heard many whispers and bits of conversation the group was having.
"James, be nice! She´s new! Imagine you´d be in her shoes!" the redhead scolded a boy with glasses and jet black hair.
"Who´d you reckon she is?" said a disembodied voice somewhere from her left.
"Kinda cute, isn´t she?" queried another disembodied voice, definitely male, snorted Felicity.
"Hey there!" Felicity turned her attention to the redhead as she greeted her warmly.
"Hi," greeted Felicity back.
"You´re surely new, I didn´t see you on the Hogwarts´ Express, I´m Lily Evans. Nice to meet you," Lily outstretched her hand across the table and Felicity shook it.
Before Felicity could answer, Lily was already pointing to the four boys, "And this is James Potter and-"
"Sirius Black, m´lady," grinned a black-haired boy with a noble-looking face. "Pleasure to meet you," he winked at her seductively, causing Felicity roll her eyes.
"And these gentlemen over here are Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew," finished an annoyed Lily. She pointed to a boy with sandy brown hair with pale complexion and then to a pudgy boy with watery eyes.
Felicity nodded her head in acknowledgement, smiling.
"So, gorgeous, what´s your name?" asked Sirius, a charming smile on his face which always disarmed the girls. However, Felicity remained unaffected and when she opened her mouth to speak, Dumbledore interrupted her with his speech. Everyone became quiet.
"Welcome back to Hogwarts! Those, who are here for the first time, welcome! But before we start the Sorting Ceremony, I would like to welcome our new student. She transferred from Durmstrang and I am quite sure you have already noticed her sitting at the Gryffindor Table. Please welcome Miss Felicity Dumbledore," his eyes twinkled merrily as the on-going murmur became to grow louder. Everyone was now looking at Dumbledore and then at Felicity open-mouthed.
Felicity smiled sweetly as the boys with Lily looked at her, wide-eyed.
James was about to speak, but they were again interrupted by Dumbledore. "Let the Sorting Ceremony begin," he smiled at Felicity who was still the object of everyone´s attention.
Felicity didn´t pay much attention during the Sorting Ceremony because when Dumbledore sat down, James turned to her.
"Are you some kind of a relative with Professor Dumbledore?" he asked in a hushed tone. Lily and all four boys were looking at her, awaiting her to response.
"I´m his granddaughter," Felicity grinned wickedly when she saw the priceless look on their faces.
"Cool!" was the response from James and Sirius. Felicity stifled a giggle.
"You´re from Durmstrang?" questioned Remus, meanwhile James and Sirius shared a wary look that only friends could share and understand the meaning of it.
"Yeah," answered Felicity carefully.
"Why did you come to Hogwarts?" asked Lily.
"It´s a bit complicated, but the main reason is that Grandpa didn´t like the idea of me growing up around future-to-be Death Eaters and well, he wanted me to be safe. Durmstrang was always known thanks to the Dark Arts that were taught there," replied Felicity, scowling.
"I can imagine," said James, a scowl on his face, too.
The Sorting Ceremony ended and Dumbledore stood up, inviting them to eat ("Tuck in!") and then resuming his seat, engaging himself in conversation.
"I don´t supoose you guys are obsessed with Dark Arts?" asked Felicity shrewdly, resuming the interrupted conversation.
"Definitely not!" exclaimed James and Sirius in unison. "That´s why we´re not in Slytherin," Sirius informed her while stuffing a potato in his mouth.
"Oh, I suppose antagonism between the Houses is common here then?" questioned Felicity.
"Nah, wust bufhween Slyffrin," answered Sirius, his mouth full.
Felicity raised an eyebrow, Lily, James, Remus and Peter rolled their eyes.
Sirius held up his hand, swallowing the food. "No antagonism between the Houses, except for Slytherin. Everyone hates them," he stated as if it were obvious.
"Not everyone Sirius. Just because you bully Severus-" interjected Lily in an angry voice before Sirius cut her off.
"But it´s Snivellus´ fault that he exists. Y´know, who´d resist the urge to hex him when he´d see that git?" retorted Sirius hotly.
"Yeah, Lily, you´re trying to be nice to him, but he just tells you off. Remember when he called you the M-word?" asked James, ready to defend Sirius.
Felicity watched the whole exchange with interest. Lily´s face was growing redder until it was matching her hair.
"It was obvious that he reacted that way because YOU were bullying him right in front of the whole school! Remus, help me out here," begged Lily, turning to Remus who was listening to the quarrel.
"Don´t use Remus against us! We Marauders are inseparable and always reach the same conclusions!" warned Sirius while they were digging through desserts, Sirius munching on a cherry pie.
Remus mumbled something, turning pink, eyes cast downwards.
"Humph! Same conclusions! You´re the only ones who decide what is the best thing for you," huffed Lily, pointing an accusing finger at James and Sirius.
"We?" echoed James and Sirius indignantly. "We always ask Remus about his opinion too!" exclaimed Sirius.
James closed his eyes at Sirius´ answer. He knew what was about to happen.
"And what about me?" piped up Peter.
"Yes, what about Peter?" demanded Lily.
"Wormtail´s got no problems with coping," answered Sirius lightly. James gulped.
Felicity was about to ask Lily why did they call Peter ´Wormtail´ but she chose to remain silent as she saw the vein pulsating on Lily´s forehead.
"Sirius Black!" Lily shrieked, causing some students to look in their direction. "You arrogant, selfish little-," Lily stopped, turning to look at Felicity who tried to remain expressionless. Lily took a deep breath, trying to calm down.
"I´m sorry, we´re giving you a bad example, but Sirius is always acting like a five-year old. And James joins him too when it comes to hexing people who hadn´t done anything to you," Lily smiled at her apologetically and then crossed her arms, glaring at James and Sirius. Both boys didn´t respond because they knew it was dangerous when Lily got angry.
"You should at least apologise to him," suggested Lily sourly.
"Never!" was Sirius´ reply. Lily´s emerald green eyes flashed.
"We´ll apologise to Sni.. Severus right after the Feast. Is that okay?" said James quickly before Lily could explode again.
Lily relaxed and smiled at James warmly. "Yes. But Sirius will apologise too," she added stiffly.
"Sure he will, Lily," assured her James and shot Sirius a menacing look.
Lily nodded, contented and helped herself with the dessert, talking to Felicity. As they were chatting, Felicity heard Sirius whisper to James something about Lily having him trained like a pet. She supressed a laugh and focused her attention back to Lily.
After dinner, Lily and Remus left to show the first years their way to the Gryffindor Common Room. James and Sirius were left behind to apologise to Severus, with Peter trotting behind them. Felicity joined James, Sirius and Peter who were heading towards a greasy, black-haired boy.
"You really hex him just because of his appearance?" asked Felicity incredulously. It was common that students were hexing each other or duelling at Durmstrang but their appearance was not the reason. If she should categorize the students from Durmstrang by the personalities and characteristics each House at Hogwarts had, almost everyone would end up in Slytherin. That would cause James and Sirius go insane if they studied at Durmstrang. Felicity did not have many enemies at Durmstrang for she always tried to remain in the background which proved to be quite hard for her. She was clever and pretty, a combination that every girl envied. The Professors favoured her, too, which made her the most popular girl at school and the main interest of boys. Felicity wasn´t as innocent as she seemed to be. She was mischievous in her own way, many times she happened to hex or duel someone at school, mostly girls that were jealous of her but boys were included too because some of them turned out to be pretty abusive.
Hogwarts was very different from Durmstrang. At Durmstrang, everyone was independent, left on their own. Felicity appreciated that for she learned to handle many situations alone. It was quite handy after you left the school, beginning your own life in the world, with no one who would care to help you. However Hogwarts seemed to be inviting and friendly, the staff too. With a headmaster like Albus Dumbledore, there was no doubt that there would be always someone who would help you.
Felicity was interrupted from her musings when Sirius answered her.
"Nah, he´s pretty interested in Dark Arts. When he was in his first year, he knew more dark magic than the seventh years. He´s a nasty overgrown bat."
"And he provokes us many times when he´s got his little friends around," James gritted his teeth for they were quickly approaching Severus who was just exiting the Great Hall.
"Oi, Snape!" shouted James. The boy with greasy hair stopped, turned around to see Felicity, James, Sirius and Peter run up to him.
"What is it Potter," sneered the boy, hand clutching his wand hidden in his pocket, his calculating eyes examining each face. When his gaze rested upon Felicity, she gave him a reassuring smile and motioned to James. The boy scowled and turned to James with a look of pure loathing on his face.
"I... erm... We would like to apologise for everything we have done to you, Severus," said James lamely.
"Yeah, I mean, we´re sorry ´bout the hard times you had." Sirius shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what else should he say when James looked at him, eyebrows raised.
"Apology not accepted," sneered Severus. Then, before James or Sirius could say anything, he turned to Felicity.
"I would be careful about your new friends, Dumbledore. It would be a shame if someone like you would start to strut and bully others because they, as your dear friends think, are not worth walking on this ground." With that, he turned around and strode to the Slytherin Common Room, his robes billowing behind him.
"That little sod! I´m going to-"
"I think Lily was right. It´s unfair to hex people only because you dislike them. I know they can be-"
"A real pain in the arse," finished Sirius, arms crossed.
James and Peter snickered and Felicity glared at them dangerously, causing them to stop.
"That was not what I meant, Sirius," said Felicity coolly. Then, she turned and marched away. The three Marauders had to run to catch up with her, panting slightly.
"What do you want?" snapped Felicity.
"We have to show you the way to the Common Room or else you´ll get lost. And y´know, we have to sleep somewhere too," pointed out James.
"I know the way and I think you´ll manage it to the Common Room without me, so sod off."
"Ooh! Did you hear her? Tut, tut, Miss Dumbledore, that´s not how a granddaughter of Albus Dumbledore should talk," jibed Sirius.
Suddenly, Felicity stopped walking, causing the boys to run into her. When she turned around, there was a murderous look on her face. The three of them took instinctively a step back.
"And what exactly are you going to do about that, Black? Are you going to tell Headmaster Dumbledore? That is no threat to me," she sneered.
Felicity turned on her heels and ran to the portrait of the Fat Lady, shouting the password ("Pumpkin juice!") and leaving the boys alone in the corridor.
"Padfoot, I think you´ve gone too far," James looked at him sternly.
"Sorry Prongs. But it´s her fault she´s so touchy!" Sirius threw his hands up in exasperation.
James sighed, causing Peter to snicker.
"Oh shut up, Wormtail. You´d better tell us what the password is."
"Dunno what the password is, I thought you knew," squeaked Peter, pointing his chubby finger at James.
"Oh, damn! We´re gonna spend the whole night here!" shouted Sirius in indignation.
Felicity stormed into the Common Room, startling the first years who quickly tried to run out of her way. Not paying attention to people around her, Felicity collided with someone´s chest. She closed her eyes, ready for the hard contact with the floor but a hand put around her waist stopped her fall. Felicity opened her eyes to find herself staring into soft, warm brown eyes of Remus Lupin.
"Uh, hi," she smiled at him shyly, blush rising into her cheeks.
"Hi," he replied, smiling.
For a long moment, both of them didn´t say anything. They stood there, in silence, watching their feet which became suddenly very interesting. Felicity was first to break the uncomfortable silence.
"I´m sorry that I ran into you. I didn´t pay attention where I was going," she mumbled apologetically, putting a strand of her white hair behind ear.
"It´s okay. You alright?" he asked softly.
"Y-Yes. Well, I think I´ll go now. Good night Remus," Felicity flashed him a smile before running to girls´ dormitories, blushing profusely.
"Good night Felicity," whispered Remus, watching her run up the stairs.
Felicity shut the door, breathing deeply.
"You okay?" asked Lily. "You look... red."
"Yeah, sure. Just argued with Sirius," answered Felicity casually.
"And that´s why you´re blushing?" Lily raised her eyebrow.
"No," came the muffled response while Felicity was tugging the shirt over her head.
"So what is it then?" inquired Lily.
"I ran into Remus."
Lily smiled knowingly. "He´s very nice."
Felicity raised her eyebrow in mock seriousness. "What is your point, Miss Evans?"
Both girls burst out laughing, receiving collective shushs from their roommates.
That night, Felicity Dumbledore lay awake for many hours.
A/N: Yeah, another chapter updated! I´d like to thank for all reviews (Arigatou!) aaand I promise I´ll update the next chapter as soon as possible. X3
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