As they left the train Sarah bid the others farewell and made her way over to a man who was no less than eight feet tall. He instructed her to go down to the black lake and wait there with the first years. When reached the lake the first years were staring at her as if she was the one that was eight feet tall. They made their way across the lake in the boats that seemed to glide effortlessly across the surface. The students in Sarah's boat kept their distance, as if she carried some disease. When they reached the castle the group was greeted by an older looking witch who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall.
"In a couple of moments you will follow me into the Great Hall were you will be sorted into one of the four houses." She paused as a soft murmur broke out between the first years. "We will of course start with Ms. Burkett, seeing as she is a transfer student. Now when you walk in you will sit on the stool and place the Sorting Hat on your head." With this piece of information Sarah realized that she hadn't found out what house James, Sirius, Peter and Remus were in. She crossed her fingers and said a silent prayer hoping to be placed in the same house. She followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall and down the aisle between two of the four tables that were full of chatting students. She looked around and saw her four friends all sitting at the same table. She smiled at them and saw Sirius mouth the word 'Gryffindor'. Sarah now knew what house she wanted to join.
The mass of newcomers stopped in front of a wooden stool and stared at Professor McGonagall as she unrolled a piece of parchment and read "Burkett, Sarah!" Sarah stepped up and sat on the stool, crossing her fingers in her robes. Professor McGonagall placed the hat on her head and within 5 minutes the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" A table wearing red and gold burst into applause, Sirius and James being the loudest by far. Sarah walked over to them beaming, it wasn't long before she found herself being tackled by Sirius, followed by James who seemed like he was going to crush her. She even hugged Peter, who seemed to be near fainting when she let go. She turned to Remus and he embraced her, but this was different than the other three. His hug was warm and welcoming, Sarah felt as if she was safe right here in his arms. She didn't know how long they had stood there in each others embrace, but when they final split she caught James' eye and he gave her a questioning look.
She smiled and took her seat next Sirius and began enjoying her new company as the first years were being sorted. The feast came and went and Sarah found herself following the crowd out of the hall and towards the Gryffindor tower. She made sure to keep and eye on James and Sirius who were leading the way, but she hung back far enough to walk next to Remus.
"Do you get a lot of transfer students?" she asked him.
"No, not really," he replied. He smiled at her and Sarah's stomach did a somersault. She looked away and ignored the feeling, it was only the first day, and she didn't need to fall for the first guy that was being nice to her. When she entered the common room she noticed how comfortable it seemed. She followed the four boys over to a corner where three chairs were placed, Sirius and James took two of them as Sarah and Remus headed for the third one.
They both realized it and Sarah took a step back, "No you go ahead and take it," Remus gestured. Sarah shot him a look that said 'Are you sure?' Remus smiled and nodded toward the chair and said, "I don't mind the floor." Sarah smiled and sat down while Remus took his place on the floor. Together they began looking over their class schedule for the next day. The five of them began switching schedules to see which classes they had in common when Sarah realized her and Remus had almost all of the same classes. She glanced over at him and hoped that this would give her a chance to get to know him better.
"Arithmancy?" Sirius asked looking up at Sarah. "Are you insane taking N.E.W.T. level Arithmancy? That's got to be really hard, only someone like Remus would take that class." He handed her back her schedule and took his from James.
"I happen to be quite good at Arithmancy, thank you very much." Sarah said.
"Arithmancy is actually very easy once you get past all the complicated equations and theories," Remus looked at Sarah and gave a wink. It wasn't long before the common room emptied and the boys said goodnight to Sarah, who headed to the girls dormitories. Weeks passed since the beginning of school and Sarah was finally getting used to the halls of Hogwarts. She now spent all of her free time with the four Marauders, a nickname the entire castle used for the four trouble makers. She had tried out for the house quidditch team and made it, this seemed to boost her status among her fellow Gryffindors. Yes, Sarah was fitting in perfectly.
Sarah walked through the portrait one day to see Remus sitting at a table in the corner of the common room. She walked over and sat beside him. She looked at the paper he was working on and sighed, "That potions essay was torture. I just barely finished mine yesterday." Remus put down his quill and ran his hands through his hair with frustration. Sarah didn't like it when he was stressed. It made the lines in his young face seem more defined.
"I can't believe how complicated this potion is," Remus said with a heavy sigh. "I've been working on it for the last hour and haven't even gotten past the first paragraph." He pushed the essay away from him and put his feet up on the table, leaning back in the chair. "Just take your time, you'll get through it." Sarah said squeezing his hand reassuringly.
Remus caught her eye and flashed her one of his award winning smiles. Sarah leaned forward and picked up the potions book he had pushed away. She skimmed over the pages and let out a low whistle. "Veritaserum? I thought the teacher's pet is supposed to get the easy assignments." She closed the book and threw onto the table where it landed with a resounding thud.
"I am not, nor will I ever be, Slughorn's pet." Remus said. "Lily Evans has that position filled."
"I like Lily," Sarah said thoughtfully, "she's very… spunky." Remus raised an eyebrow. "What?" she asked. "Spunky? Out of all the words in the English language, you choose 'spunky'?" he asks incredulously. Sarah shrugged and slouched down in her seat, "It's the word that fits her, just like lackluster is the word that fits you," she teased. Remus looked at her in mock horror, "Lackluster? Well if I'm lackluster then that makes you juvenile!" Sarah sat up and punched him in the arm playfully.
Before she knew it Sarah found herself pinned between the floor and Remus, who was attacking her sides, tickling her to no end. Sarah was laughing and gasping for breath, trying desperately to push Remus off. "Who's juvenile now?" she managed to get out in between bursts of laughter. Remus succeeded in grabbing her wrists and pinning them above her head, as she continued to laugh. "Ok," She said after she had caught her breath, "So you're not lackluster. You're… entertaining." Remus smiled down at her and opened his mouth to say something when the portrait hole opened.
Both their heads turned to watch James, Sirius and Peter make their way into the common room. James and Sirius were lost in deep conversation with Peter following in their wake nodding in agreement. James and Sirius stopped dead in their tracks, causing poor Peter to run into them, they stared in a bemused sort of way at Sarah and Remus. Remus stood up quickly, Sarah following his lead. She looked at Remus then at the other three, smiled weakly and headed for the girls dormitories.
Ok I know there's nothing extremely exciting happening yet, but I promise it's getting there! The rating is going to change eventually. Reviews would be lovely.