Alchemy: Finally! We have another chapter up and running. Time for reviews!

Ayumu Narumi- Yes, the Mini-Kuro is cute. I like him! He's going to come back soon!

Nunofyorbiz- Well, that's a secret! You'll just have to read and find out.

Miko102- 3 Yep! We updated! Glad you're glad!

Taigaa-Gina- Sakura's not in Slytherin. You'll find out where she goes if you scroll down and read. For Chibi-Kuro, you'll just have to wait to find that one out!

Crystal Dawn- Well, I'm really happy that you like it and thanks for the side notes. I didn't know that. I've never read RG Verda.

Yersi Fanel- Thanks for pointing that out. I knew we did something wrong. ) Well, thanks for reading it and noticing that once again and I'm glad you like it!

Unwanted Red Roses- Glad you like it. I can't wait. I get to brainstorm ideas for the next chapter. That should be fun…

Vixenfirechild- The plot might be simple now, but as we go on, it might get a bit more complex. I got a confused a few times myself when we were plotting this out…

firefoxillusion007- Thanks!

Sun: We better get started on this fic now.

Alchemy: There's one thing I want to say before we get this thing up.

Sun: Oh, what is that?

Alchemy: Slurpies!

Sun: O.o

12345678980123456787801234567890123456789901234567899012345678901234567

Remus Lupin was like every other boy. Well, except for his lycanthropy, and his knack for getting up earlier than his roommates.

He didn't mind this irreplaceable habit. The sunrise was always nice to look at. First dibs at the bulletin board was good too, for business or otherwise.

So on that snowy day of December, exactly one week and two days ahead of Christmas, Remus jogged down the steps of the boys' dormitory staircase, taking the last five at a jump. He was fully dressed in his somewhat frayed uniform. He admired the sunrise for a while, then ambled over to the notice board. His eyes wearily scanned the numerous lost-and-found papers(Has anyone seen my socks? Lisa), advertisements(Socks wanted! Simply slip a pair under the 5th year boys' dorm and earn some Galleons! Marauders), and club notices(Charms, Fri.) He skimmed over the calendar and shook his head. Nothing new.

Remus turned away, did a double take, whirled back, and stared. Sure enough, in the little animated box reading, "Dec.Christmas!" were the words, "Social Event-Christmas Ball, 4th year & up permitted to attend." He gazed at it some more, then bolted for the step, taking them two at a time. He had an important message to confer.

The Adventures of the Fellowship Through Time

"A BALL!"

Remus winced. Perhaps it hadn't been so good to tell them this early.

Peter was wide-eyed, nearly falling off his four-poster. Sirius's eyebrows had disappeared beneath his shock of long dark hair. James lay spread-eagled on his bed, every ounce of sleepiness erased.

They were more awake than Remus had ever seen before 7 o'clock.

"Yeah." Remus gritted his teeth for the groans that would inevitably come.

Identical evil grins split across Sirius and James's faces.

"Moony, old mate," Sirius said, clapping Remus genially on the back.

"The information you have just relayed to us is most important and greatly appreciated. We salute you," Sirius said. His grin stretched from ear to ear.

"What he means," James smirked, "is that this is the perfect opportunity to trip Snivellus on his way to the punch bowl."

Sirius put his chin in his hand. "And to be on the safe side, we should probably spike the punch too, mate."

Remus chuckled inwardly, only slightly wary, then groaned.

James looked alarmed, and said, "Now, Moony, if you think we're going to do anything rash-"

"-we won't,' Sirius finished.

Remus rolled his eyes; as if they had ever done anything rash in their lives.

Instead, he got to the point.

"My transformation this month occurs on Christmas Eve."

The Adventures of the Fellowship Through Time

Maaya sulked, leaning against the wall.

"I still think that you lot have the best rooms in the school."

Sakura smiled, almost apologetic. Although they had received good hospitality in the past countries, this was beyond just nice.

Lily, however, scrutinized the room thoughtfully.

"It looks a tad bleak. A bit like a Muggle hospital. All white sheets and whatnot."

Maaya tore herself away from the wall to stand next to Lily.

"Way too plain."

Maaya and Lily surveyed the room, the opened their mouths simultaneously. "It needs-"

"-some serious decorating."

The two Gryffindors stared each other down.

"Sakura, would it be alr-"

"Sakura-chan, dearie," Maaya drawled sweetly, cutting a glaring Lily off. "You wouldn't mind greatly if I-"

"AHEM."

"-if WE," Maaya added grudgingly, "altered your room a bit, so to speak."

"I wouldn't mind," Sakura said, beaming. Maaya clapped her hands, delighted.

"Excellent then! We are free for the rest of the evening, no, no Quidditch practice, Lily, so I suppose I'll start now!"

"She has fluctuating mood swings, poor girl," Lily muttered. Sakura giggled.

"So what color should I charm it?" Maaya murmured.

"Maybe blue and white?"

"Quiet, Lily! Have you no respect for a person deep in thought?" Maaya hissed. She and Lily glared at each other.

"Gryffindor colors are a must-"

"They haven't even been sorted!"

"No matter! I have the utmost faith in Sakura that she will be a Gryffindor."

Glare. Sakura watched the exchange nervously.

"She's clearly a Gryffindor, but if you don't want her in this House-"

Lily was furious.

"I was not implying that! I was merely pointing out-"

"POINT MY HAT!"

"I was only trying to remind you-"

"And I was only trying to decorate a room-"

"Wait! I thought Sakura said we could both do this-"

"Well, YOU THOUGHT WRONG!"

"SHUT UP! THE LOT OF YOU!"

Head swiveled towards the door, where two girls stood, one with her hands behind her back, and the other with feet placed apart, hands on hips.

"That's better," the blonde girl sighed. "And you should know well that I hate shouting." She made her way to the group of people.

Lily had regained her breath, as well as most of her poise. She waved towards the blonde, saying,

"This is Alice, a good friend and a Gryffindor as well, and this is Jeanne." Alice stuck out her hand, smiling a smile that reached across her plump face.

"It's a pleasure." Alice stood back, and Jeanne stepped up, wrinkling her nose cutely.

"Good to meet you!" she said, eyes sparkling.

"Well, how about pink?" Jeanne asked, curly bangs shading her violet eyes. Lily looked surprised.

"Why pink?" she asked. Jeanne shrugged.

"Isn't Sakura the Japanese word for 'cherry blossom'? And aren't cherry blossoms pink?" she countered.

Maaya smacked her forehead. "Why didn't I think of it before?"

Jeanne grinned, twirling a light-brown curl. "Because you hate pink."

Lily took stock of the situation, and within minutes, the walls and carpet were in shades pink, and the bedspread was patterned with cherries. Flowery knick-knacks stood on every surface, and the wood had turned, unsurprisingly, to cherry wood.

"Lily's a Charms whiz," Alice said in way of explanation. Sakura nodded, gaping at the room.

"Well, anyway, do you know where," Jeanne consulted a scrap of parchment, "Misters Syaoran, Fai, and Kurogane could be found?"

Maaya's brow furrowed, "No, why?"

"We need to relay an important message from Dumbledore."

The Adventures of the Fellowship Through Time

"So Quidditch is the most popular sport in your wor-eh, country?"

"That's right, mate!" James beamed. Syaoran sent up a silent thanks that James had not noticed the trip in his words.

"The game is played on broomsticks, and was first designed in the Medieval Age. There are four balls in the game, and seven players on each team," James went on. Syaoran nodded.

"The first ball is a Quaffle, and it apparently looks like a red football." Catching the puzzled look on Syaoran's face, he hastily added, "Well, according to Evans, it does. I've no idea what a football looks like." It took Syaoran a minute before he realized that James was referring to Lily.

"The Quaffle is around seven inches, a solid red color, and is made of leather stitched together over some stuffing, I'm not quite sure what. It doesn't have many magical attributes, except for a spell that keeps it from falling to the ground too quickly, but it plays a very important role. More about that later.

"Anyway, two other balls, called Bludgers, are black, tough as dragon hide, and are around this size." James held up his hands in a crude measurement. "What they do is they go after team players and try to knock them off their brooms. They're right dangerous, could knock you cold if you're not careful.

"And the last ball is the Golden Snitch. Size of a walnut, gold with tiny silver wings, and dead fast. Supposedly, it's very hard to catch, but I think it's a snap," James boasted.

"There are several different jobs for people on the team. First off is the Seeker. His job is to catch the Snitch. If he does, his team wins 150 points and the game ends. The team that catches the Snitch almost always win. Seekers need to be light, fast, and good with a broom; the Snitch is pretty hard to see, and even harder to catch(though not for me!).

"Two other players, called Beaters, are supposed to knock the Bludgers away from the rest of their team mates. They have wooden clubs for that job, but you also need a strong arm, which, by the way, isn't much of a problem for me, either.

"The Keeper's job is to block the Quaffle from getting into the goal posts. You see, there are three goal posts at each team's end of the field, and that's where the noblest players of all come in: the Chasers!" James grinned.

"The Chasers shoot the Quaffle into the goal posts, 10 points a goal. The Keeper of the opposite team blocks them from getting in."
Syaoran nodded, dissolving this new information in his mind.

"Oi! Slow people! Could you quicken the pace a bit!" Sirius called from several yards ahead. The two boys ran to keep up, but Syaoran stopped in his tracks when he saw what was beyond the doorframe.

Numerous giant stone staircases, connecting at tons of landings, moving majestically from landing to landing.

"This is incredible," Syaoran murmured.

"You bet it is," Remus said from his side. "This is Hogwarts."

'It's always fun when I get to see something with my own eyes...'

A gale of laughter reached them from above. James and Sirius had somehow made it to the top two stairwells, and were racing each other down. James did a complicated whirl before toppling off amidst rapturous applause from Peter.

"James's a bit of a show-off, but he's really a good bloke," Remus said. "He never misses an opportunity to, er, show his worth, though.

"Especially in front of Lily."

Syaoran looked away from the raucous crowd above.

"Does James..." he broke off, motioning with his hands.

"Madly," Remus replied. Never stops trying to impress her. Personally, it's good entertainment until they get out of hand."

Syaoran didn't press the matter.

"Merlin, could you hurry up!" Peter squealed from three stories up.

No one caught the grin that Sirius sent James.

"ACCIO!"

With a strangled, "wah!", Syaoran lost his footing and found himself hurtling up the stairs.

"Syaoran, look out!" Remus shouted. Syaoran glanced to the right- and yelped. The ominous stonewall loomed out, and he was heading straight for it.
Ignoring everyone's horror-stricken face, he somersaulted easily and pushed off, turning a full backwards circle before landing cat-like on his feet.
"Wheet-whoo! I'd say you about beat Kuro-fufu there," a familiar voice called out. Syaoran glanced up to see Fai and Kurogane approaching.

"Not bad, kid."

All four of the Marauders stood dumbstruck, their mouths agape like doors flung ajar. Syaoran grinned at their surprise. James quickly recovered, his shock replaced by a manic grin.

"I reckon we've found our last Quiddtich player."

Remus frowned slightly, "but they haven't even been sorted yet!"

"Very good point, Remus." Five girls stood at the end of the corridor. Maaya folded her arms.

"I'm still positive she's a Gryffindor," Maaya huffed.

A brunette spoke up, saying, "We have a message to give to you. Headmaster Dumbledore requests to see you in his office in five minutes(Yipes!); he has some business for you." She grinned. "You'd better hurry!"

The Adventures of the Fellowship Through Time

"So Who'll be first?" The hat crowed, it's brim/mouth flapping.

Sakura looked shyly around. "If you don't mind, could I?"

Syaoran nodded encouragingly. She walked timidly up to the stool and sat down, placing the hat on her head.

"And who do we have here?"

'Sakura,' she thought to herself(or the hat).

"Oh, dear, you don't seem to have many experiences that I can base my judgment on."

'I lost all my memories, so that's why we are going on a journey to find them."

"We?" the hat inquired.

'Syaoran, Fai, Kurogane, and I," she replied.

"Ah. But I can tell, you have a natural curiosity for new things, are courageous and unafraid(most of the time), and you do not hesitate to do the right thing. You have a determination to help others, and also to prove yourself. Your inner strength is good."

'Gryffindor, please,' Sakura thought, eyes squinted shut.

The hat said to her, "Gryffindor, dear? Well, it seems a suitable choice."

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat yelled. Cheering, clapping, and whistling could be heard outside the

door, along with a cry of, "I told you so!" Sakura slid off the stool, smiling brightly.

"Mr. Syaoran?" Dumbledore said. Syaoran nodded.

'I hope I get into Gryffindor. I have to. I need to make sure Sakura will be alright.'

The moment he sat down, the voice of the Hat filled his head.

"Syaoran, eh?" Syaoran nodded.

"You'll be a difficult one, no doubt. What's that, Gryffindor too?"

"If you would, please."

"Well, intelligence, determination, courage and bravery in excess, if you're sure, "

"GRYFFINDOR!"

The cheering and whooping arose again outside the office. A thud was heard, and a small,

"ow" floated into the room, followed by a bit of laughter and a swearword. The troupe of

travelers turned to stare at the oak door when someone could be heard.

"Padfoot! I can't believe you knocked Wormtail down the stairwell!" Remus's voice said.

"It was an accident!" his friend defended. "Don't you assume that I would ever do that purposefully."

"Sure you wouldn't," another person retorted. It was Maaya.

"I swear, on my dead mum(that old hag), I wouldn't do that to a friend," Sirius insisted.

"Then go get Peter and bring him back up," Maaya suggested firmly. There were some grumbling and footsteps sounded. A few seconds later, two footsteps could be heard through the door.

"There, now I've got him. Sorry loads, Wormtail, it was an accident. Didn't mean to knock you down the steps," Sirius said.

The four teens in the office turned back around to face Dumbledore once more. The older man smiled.

"Mr. Kurogane, if you will," he said. Kurogane, like always, grumbled about the unfairness of him being pushed before that white mage.

"Yet another tricky one. You are brave, and very loyal to those you serve. Wonderful qualities for Gryffindor; you are cunning, but not the type for Ravenclaw."
Kurogane grunted and mumbled in response.

"Not remotely friendly, Hufflepuff won't do at all. Slytherin seems good. I see, the one you serve has put a restraining curse upon you. Cunning, very sly. Well, I know the perfect House for you!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

Boos came through from the other side of the door. Someone clapped politely, however.
Everyone outside turned to glare at Lily, minus Jeanne, who was rolling her eyes at the simplicity of the people before her.

"Evans, you cheered for a Slytherin!" Sirius exclaimed, eyes flashing dangerously. "Are you bloody out-of-your-mind!"

"It's only proper to applaud him; he his our companion, and another student, same as the rest. We should be happy for him, regardless of his House(though I DON'T find Slytherin favorable, the slimy gits).

"Oh yeah," Maaya grinned. "You do have a point there." Only Jeanne could catch the sarcasm subtly woven in.
"She is right," Remus said pointedly.

James stared at his best friend.

"Moony, you spend way too much time with the Prefects."

The Adventures of the Fellowship Through Time

Kurogane growled as the group of students standing outside bantered back and forth. "Shut up out there!" he yelled, a bit disgusted that they had been talking about him.

"Calm down, Kuro-fee. They're not doing anything bad," Fai chirped. Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling over his half-moon glasses.

"Mr. Fai, your turn," he said.

Fai nodded with his oh-so-casual smile and put the hat on.

"Great knowledge, I see, and you are very wise," the Sorting Hat said before the man in boy form could even sit down. "You have a thirst to learn more, and are trying to avoid returning home. Though you are quite friendly, I believe I know just where to put you!"

"Ravenclaw!"

Some polite clapping and a couple of groans wafted into the room.

"Merlin!" Sirius and James chorused. "Another person jumping on our back to get us to study."

Remus, Maaya, and even Lily could be heard next. "You need to study to get more O.W.L.s. It's really important."

Someone, predictably Sirius, snorted derisively.

"So says the girl who ditches the Library for Quidditch more often than not."

Dumbledore clapped for Fai, Kurogane, Syaoran, and Sakura's attention. He smiled and said,

"So we have two new Gryffindors, and Ravenclaw, and a Slytherin. You will take classes with your Houses, and meals as well. However, you will retire at night to the rooms I have prepared for you. The group outside my office will undoubtedly aid you with anything else. You are dismissed." He nodded. No one could be heard outside.

"Hi-YAH!", and the door banged open, revealing Maaya in a Kung Fu pose, fists and right leg raised. The rest of the crowd looked either, mortified, shocked, or slightly impressed.

"Quite impressive, Miss Sakamoto, but I beg of you not to do it again. I'm sure you meant no harm, but someone could have been hurt." He motioned towards Syaoran, who had gone to open the door and looked petrified.

"Gomen- I mean, sorry, Headmaster sir, I was just, you know," she said, sinking into a bit of a bow. Her face flushed.

"It's quite alright," he assured. He turned to the rest and said, "And once again, you are dismissed."

The students turned to exit, but something stopped them.

What's the hold-up, Evans?" Sirius said. Lily ignored him; she seemed to be immersed in something down the stairs.

Sure enough, a shout resonated up the steps, and a girl skidded to a halt at Lily's front.

"Emmeline, what's going on?" Lily asked. The girl named Emmeline swept her straight blonde hair from her face.

"A breath of air, perhaps, Miss Vance?" Dumbledore interrupted from his desk.

Emmeline nodded, her hair flying. The room was eerily silent while she breathed.

"Something strange is going on, Headmaster," she said as soon as she had caught her breath.

"First, we were in Charms Class, practicing Banishing Spells, and my cushion that I was practicing on exploded, but I was sure I did the spell right, and we've practiced the incantation for weeks!" She said earnestly. Lily nodded, all ears.

"But when the feathers flew out of the pillow, I noticed one larger than the rest, with a strange marking on it..."

Syaoran snapped to attention.

"When I went to pick it up, however, it simply disappeared, so I just thought it a trick of the eyes."

But she continued, her voice rising in tempo, "And I saw it again! This evening, in the Ravenclaw Common Room. Almost every Ravenclaw was there, and I wasn't the only one who spotted it. Everyone noticed it, you see...it seemed to shine, but when a 6th year went to take it," she gulped and cried, "it exploded in his face!"

Dumbledore stood, rapt with attention.

"Miss Vance, do you know the location of this feather?"

Emmeline shook her head.

"It disappeared once more. But more than one person was near at the time, and almost everyone around it fainted. And they've been out cold since! Madam Pomphrey has yet to find a potion to revive them," she said worriedly, wringing her hands.

Everyone's attention seemed to zone in on her, though none so much as the three travelers; Sakura was drooping off to slumber land. Dumbledore finally sat down.

"I think that is quite enough excitement for one night," he said. "I suggest you all go to bed for a fresh start in the morning."

Out in the corridor off of the Headmaster's staircase, the three travelers(minus Sakura, who had dropped off on the stairs and was know in Syaoran's arms) consulted the newly arrived Mokona.

"It's definitely here, not close, but not far, either," the creature said.

"So I suppose..." Fai said. Syaoran finished the sentence, his "determined" look crossing his face.

"We look for it."

The Adventures of the Fellowship Through Time

Maaya smiled triumphantly.

"I told you that she would be a Gryffindor, but no, you wouldn't listen!"

Lily opened her mouth, incredulous. "I only said that-"

"Mhmm. Thought so. Black, keep out of this! I've still enough pep in me for another one of those kicks."

Jeanne laughed good-naturedly.

"You sure are argumentative, Maaya-chan."

"Darned straight, Jeanne! And don't you lot forget it!"

12345678901234556788900123345678900123567866750973485627845689234758927882

Sun: Another chapter gone.

Alchemy: I know. Wasn't it wonderful?

Sun: Please review!