Ah, green tea, a comfy couch, and writing a story...these were the
ingredients chosen...woah, sorry, odd tangent there. Ara's back for more in
chapter two, hopefully. Thanks a thousand swords for my first two
reviewers (it's not creepy that you're character has my "name", it's
AWESOME). Sorry that the first chapter was a little short, but hopefully I
can have enough patience to write longer chapters. Oh, and before I forget
entirely, FRODO LIVES...oh, and I don't own Harry Potter, forgot that.
** Ch. 2: A New Beginning
The stillness of the night was shattered by the familiar screech of a halting train as it made its way towards the usual platform. After a long interval of screeching, the long train finally slowed to a stop. After a few moments, the doors slid open, and the usual flow of students filed out amidst a bubbling river of talk. From his window from across the lake, the old man, using the magic infused in his little spectacles to see such a distance, picked out the four young students from the crowd, including the other young student who was making his way towards them. He smiled as the door opened behind him.
"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" the old man with the moon-shaped glasses said. He did not turn around, wanting to continue his visual search for yet another young student, a new one to Hogwarts. McGonagall leaned against the frame of the doorway, a small smile escaping on her usually stern face.
"Well, she's here, Albus, certainly out there on the platform right this moment. You do realize the Ministry will want your head after this, no doubt? They had said it would be ridiculous. Bloody nonsense, I say, if you'll forgive the outburst, Albus," McGonagall said with a smile as she crossed her arms and made her way into Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore smiled as his eyes found the one he had been searching for amidst the mass of students. I am going to enjoy this year very much, he thought earnestly. Turning finally, he said, "The outburst is forgiven, Minerva, my dear. And, before you ask, no, I will not tell him."
"But, why, Albus? I know you're wise, but, I don't see why you shouldn't," McGonagall said quietly.
"Minerva, if there's one thing I have truly learned over the years, it is that the young are much wiser than we let on. I trust them, and I believe, by your standards, that that is enough?" At McGonagall's nod, he continued, "Well, my dear friend, let's make all the necessary preparations."
**
"Moony! Hey, Moony, over here, old dog," Sirius called out to the young werewolf. Turning, Remus saw his friend running towards him, as well as Lily Evans and the rest of the Marauders: James and Peter. With a small smile, he made his way through the rabble of frightened first-years to his friends. "Dammit, boy, you lose yourself in crowds way too easily," Sirius said with a smile as he drew his friend into a bear hug. James came up behind him a ruffled his hair while Peter stood at a distance, smiling happily. Lily, although with a flash of jealousy from James, kissed Remus on the cheek.
"Sorry, guys," Remus said, blushing and rubbing his prized cheek absently, "I got a little...sidetracked, is all." He smiled at the memory. Sirius, ever the expert, raised an eyebrow mischievously and nudged James in the side and winked.
"Ohhh, we understand perfectly, lover boy. Widdle Moony's found a widdle girl to talk to! Awww, ickle Moony-bumpkins!" Sirius cackled, making Remus blush crimson. James nearly choked on laughter, even when Lily hit him on the back both in protest and to help him. "Well? Where is she?" asked Sirius.
Shrugging and wanting to avoid further public humility, Remus looked out over the endless sea of students, eyes searching for that face he had seen pass him by as he had left the train. As his eyes roamed towards the edge of crowd, he saw her. Wordlessly, he pointed to the lone figure that stood away from the crowd. Looking at her fully now, Remus' heart jumped to his throat as his eyes drank in her beauty. Her hair, which hung down to her shoulders, was as black as a raven, her pale skin a striking, yet wonderful contrast. Her eyes, a stormy sea-grey, sparkled. However, what struck Remus as odd was the fact that her face seemed slightly drawn, as if worn down by a large burden and also that her robes were patched and tattered, and her feet were bare in the cold of the night. A sudden impulse to immediately run to her and wrap his heavy coat around her swelled up inside of him, but he held back.
Sirius whistled: "Ah, now that's a specimen! Don't get much better than that, besides maybe Lily. Got to tell you, though, I've never seen her in all our five years at Hogwarts...Crap! We're sixth years! How bloody damn well stupid that one sounds."
James nodded, saying, "Yeah, that is weird. I wonder who she is? She's gotta be really cold in just her bare feet."
"Well," Lily said, "let's go talk to her. C'mon, it'll be nice to add a new friend to our little group, won't it, James?"
Realizing what she was planning, Remus panicked and grabbed Lily's arm. "Uh, on...on second thought, let's just get in the carriages and go on to school, shall we? I'm sure we can talk to her later or something...oh, please, Lily!" But Lily would not hear of it. With a mischievous look in her eyes, no doubt learned from either James or Sirius, she grabbed Remus' hand and made her way over to the black-haired girl, Remus struggling frantically to break free. Before the boy even knew it, he, Lily, and now the remaining Marauders were standing next to the girl. His heart raced in his throat as perspiration began to form on his forehead.
"Hi, there!" Lily said cheerily, pulling Remus to her side as James came onto her other side, "You must be new here. I'm Lily Evans, and this is James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin! We're very pleased to meet you!"
Eyes wide, the girl replied quietly, "Hello there."
Trying to be romantic, Sirius bowed and kissed the girl's hand, to which she gave him a puzzling look. Realizing his usual "dashing appearance" had just been thrown in the mud, he said rather ungraciously, "You have a name?"
"Oh, sorry," the girl said with an embarrassed smile, making Remus' heart nearly explode, "My name is Aya...Aya Centaria"
"Wow...I mean, sexy...no, wait, um...cute...er...hi," Remus stuttered, his face now reaching an entirely new level of red. Aya smiled, blushing a little, her eyes sparkling.
"I think," said James, raising an eyebrow above his glasses, "what Remus is trying to say is that he really likes your name, Aya." Remus shyly shuffled his feet. Suddenly, a loud whistle sounded, signaling for the students, excluding the now-terrified first years, to board the awaiting carriages that would lead them all to Hogwarts.
Smiling at Aya, Lily grabbed her arm, saying, "Come on, Aya! If we hurry, we can all get into the same carriage together," and pulled the helpless girl with her. For a while, Remus stared after the dark-haired girl, still transfixed by her beauty, until Sirius smacked him on the back of the head.
"Very smooth, Moony. Oh, yeah, you're a damn 'lady's man' now, stuttering like that," he said as he followed after the two girls. Grinning, James motioned for his two remaining friends to follow, and together they ran to catch up.
As Remus finally caught up, Lily was asking Aya nearly everything about her, being the curious girl that she was. From what Lily had gotten, Aya was an exchange student from a very small all-girl witchcraft school called Llitesat not too far from London, and had only exchanged schools on Dumbledore's request.
"Wow," Remus breathed, finally gaining composure, "Dumbledore requested that! You must be really special." Aya stared down at her feet, a sudden forlorn look on her face, which made Remus' heart skip a beat. "Did...did I say something...wrong? I'm really sorry if I did, Aya!" Remus practically sobbed.
Aya blushed, saying, "Oh, it's fine, silly. Really, Remus, I'm totally fine." She smiled as if to prove it, but, though Remus nodded in agreement, he inwardly was not satisfied; he knew something was wrong, but decided to leave it alone.
The carriages pulled by invisible creatures of some sort waited in the dirt road as student after student made his or her way into them. Because they had moved to the back of the crowd, the Marauders, Lily, and their new companion were left with two remaining carriages. Silently, Sirius and Peter made their way in. Before he ventured inside, James counted the remaining number of seats, and was about to say that there was enough room for everyone when Lily, a mischievous look in her eyes, stepped on his foot to silence him and said, "Oh, look, there's only room for two more of us. Remus, why don't you and Aya get the other one? James and I don't want to be separated, and we certainly don't want to make Sirius and Peter move just after they sat down, right James?" Fearing more pain, James nodded quickly.
Clearly not taking the hint from Lily, Peter blurted out, "But, Lily, there's room enough-" Lily's death glare silenced him immediately. Narrowing his eyes at Lily, Remus motioned for Aya to move to the next carriage and silently helped her in, giving Lily his own version of a death glare. Lily smiled and giggled triumphantly and gave the boy a "thumbs up" sign. Remus sighed.
As the carriages moved on, James said, "Now, what the hell was that for, Lily?" But Lily continued to giggle to herself and would say no more.
The carriage ride to Hogwarts was one of the slowest for Remus as he sat dwindling his thumbs absentmindedly across from Aya, who remained silent, staring transfixed at her hands. The silence was deafening. After a time, Remus said, "Aren't you cold in just your bare feet, Aya? Where are your shoes? Surely your mother must've packed some for you?"
Blushing Aya looked up. "Oh, I'm fine."
Puzzled, Remus continued, "No, you're not. You're shivering a little. You can wear my shoes, if you would like. Then, when we get there, we can get your stuff and you can get your shoes. Where did your mother pack them?"
Aya looked away. "I...I don't have a mother." Remus wanted to murder himself.
"Oh...I'm...I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to..." he began, but Aya shrugged him off. Remus gritted his teeth in embarrassment and looked down at his hands again. As soon as I kill myself, he thought, I'm going to murder Lily for this, that sly prat. I told James we were too much of an influence on her, but, nooo, he said it was harmless...Well, now look at her, you dork! He looked up at Aya again and saw she was looking through the window and up at the sky. He could see in the moonlight that she was trying to keep her teeth from chattering. Silently, he took off his coat and sat down next to the girl, placing it around her shoulders. Startled, she looked at him and smiled in thanks. Realizing where he was, he jumped up immediately, whacked his head on the roof of the carriage, and sat down again, rubbing his head. Aya giggled, making Remus want to sink through the carriage. They sat for a while in silence, each uncomfortable. Aya resumed her staring at the sky, grateful for the added warmth from the heavy coat.
After a time, she said, "The moon's actually pretty tonight." Remus raised an eyebrow; he had never in his life considered the moon a pretty thing. "I love it when it's only just a sliver of a piece," she continued absentmindedly.
"I hate it when it's full," Remus said without thinking. Aya looked back at him, her face serene. Frantically trying to remain as far way from his certain "condition," he said hurriedly, "I mean...it's just so...so ugly when it's full. You know, just...way too bright."
Aya smiled. "Me too."
The carriage came to a sudden halt. It was then that he realized that nearly twenty minutes had passed since the carriage had set out, when it had only seemed like mere seconds to him. He marveled at it. As he stepped from the carriage and immediately helped Aya out (though still disgruntled by the fact that she did not have any shoes for her feet in the cold), Remus said, "Well, welcome to Hogwarts, Aya."
**
Well, there's chapter two for you guys...on a side note, ch. 1 took place during the very beginning of OotP. Let's just say Remus is visiting them? I hoped you liked ch. 2...ch. 3 soon to come!! Thank you! *bows and exits stage left*
** Ch. 2: A New Beginning
The stillness of the night was shattered by the familiar screech of a halting train as it made its way towards the usual platform. After a long interval of screeching, the long train finally slowed to a stop. After a few moments, the doors slid open, and the usual flow of students filed out amidst a bubbling river of talk. From his window from across the lake, the old man, using the magic infused in his little spectacles to see such a distance, picked out the four young students from the crowd, including the other young student who was making his way towards them. He smiled as the door opened behind him.
"Yes, Professor McGonagall?" the old man with the moon-shaped glasses said. He did not turn around, wanting to continue his visual search for yet another young student, a new one to Hogwarts. McGonagall leaned against the frame of the doorway, a small smile escaping on her usually stern face.
"Well, she's here, Albus, certainly out there on the platform right this moment. You do realize the Ministry will want your head after this, no doubt? They had said it would be ridiculous. Bloody nonsense, I say, if you'll forgive the outburst, Albus," McGonagall said with a smile as she crossed her arms and made her way into Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore smiled as his eyes found the one he had been searching for amidst the mass of students. I am going to enjoy this year very much, he thought earnestly. Turning finally, he said, "The outburst is forgiven, Minerva, my dear. And, before you ask, no, I will not tell him."
"But, why, Albus? I know you're wise, but, I don't see why you shouldn't," McGonagall said quietly.
"Minerva, if there's one thing I have truly learned over the years, it is that the young are much wiser than we let on. I trust them, and I believe, by your standards, that that is enough?" At McGonagall's nod, he continued, "Well, my dear friend, let's make all the necessary preparations."
**
"Moony! Hey, Moony, over here, old dog," Sirius called out to the young werewolf. Turning, Remus saw his friend running towards him, as well as Lily Evans and the rest of the Marauders: James and Peter. With a small smile, he made his way through the rabble of frightened first-years to his friends. "Dammit, boy, you lose yourself in crowds way too easily," Sirius said with a smile as he drew his friend into a bear hug. James came up behind him a ruffled his hair while Peter stood at a distance, smiling happily. Lily, although with a flash of jealousy from James, kissed Remus on the cheek.
"Sorry, guys," Remus said, blushing and rubbing his prized cheek absently, "I got a little...sidetracked, is all." He smiled at the memory. Sirius, ever the expert, raised an eyebrow mischievously and nudged James in the side and winked.
"Ohhh, we understand perfectly, lover boy. Widdle Moony's found a widdle girl to talk to! Awww, ickle Moony-bumpkins!" Sirius cackled, making Remus blush crimson. James nearly choked on laughter, even when Lily hit him on the back both in protest and to help him. "Well? Where is she?" asked Sirius.
Shrugging and wanting to avoid further public humility, Remus looked out over the endless sea of students, eyes searching for that face he had seen pass him by as he had left the train. As his eyes roamed towards the edge of crowd, he saw her. Wordlessly, he pointed to the lone figure that stood away from the crowd. Looking at her fully now, Remus' heart jumped to his throat as his eyes drank in her beauty. Her hair, which hung down to her shoulders, was as black as a raven, her pale skin a striking, yet wonderful contrast. Her eyes, a stormy sea-grey, sparkled. However, what struck Remus as odd was the fact that her face seemed slightly drawn, as if worn down by a large burden and also that her robes were patched and tattered, and her feet were bare in the cold of the night. A sudden impulse to immediately run to her and wrap his heavy coat around her swelled up inside of him, but he held back.
Sirius whistled: "Ah, now that's a specimen! Don't get much better than that, besides maybe Lily. Got to tell you, though, I've never seen her in all our five years at Hogwarts...Crap! We're sixth years! How bloody damn well stupid that one sounds."
James nodded, saying, "Yeah, that is weird. I wonder who she is? She's gotta be really cold in just her bare feet."
"Well," Lily said, "let's go talk to her. C'mon, it'll be nice to add a new friend to our little group, won't it, James?"
Realizing what she was planning, Remus panicked and grabbed Lily's arm. "Uh, on...on second thought, let's just get in the carriages and go on to school, shall we? I'm sure we can talk to her later or something...oh, please, Lily!" But Lily would not hear of it. With a mischievous look in her eyes, no doubt learned from either James or Sirius, she grabbed Remus' hand and made her way over to the black-haired girl, Remus struggling frantically to break free. Before the boy even knew it, he, Lily, and now the remaining Marauders were standing next to the girl. His heart raced in his throat as perspiration began to form on his forehead.
"Hi, there!" Lily said cheerily, pulling Remus to her side as James came onto her other side, "You must be new here. I'm Lily Evans, and this is James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, and Remus Lupin! We're very pleased to meet you!"
Eyes wide, the girl replied quietly, "Hello there."
Trying to be romantic, Sirius bowed and kissed the girl's hand, to which she gave him a puzzling look. Realizing his usual "dashing appearance" had just been thrown in the mud, he said rather ungraciously, "You have a name?"
"Oh, sorry," the girl said with an embarrassed smile, making Remus' heart nearly explode, "My name is Aya...Aya Centaria"
"Wow...I mean, sexy...no, wait, um...cute...er...hi," Remus stuttered, his face now reaching an entirely new level of red. Aya smiled, blushing a little, her eyes sparkling.
"I think," said James, raising an eyebrow above his glasses, "what Remus is trying to say is that he really likes your name, Aya." Remus shyly shuffled his feet. Suddenly, a loud whistle sounded, signaling for the students, excluding the now-terrified first years, to board the awaiting carriages that would lead them all to Hogwarts.
Smiling at Aya, Lily grabbed her arm, saying, "Come on, Aya! If we hurry, we can all get into the same carriage together," and pulled the helpless girl with her. For a while, Remus stared after the dark-haired girl, still transfixed by her beauty, until Sirius smacked him on the back of the head.
"Very smooth, Moony. Oh, yeah, you're a damn 'lady's man' now, stuttering like that," he said as he followed after the two girls. Grinning, James motioned for his two remaining friends to follow, and together they ran to catch up.
As Remus finally caught up, Lily was asking Aya nearly everything about her, being the curious girl that she was. From what Lily had gotten, Aya was an exchange student from a very small all-girl witchcraft school called Llitesat not too far from London, and had only exchanged schools on Dumbledore's request.
"Wow," Remus breathed, finally gaining composure, "Dumbledore requested that! You must be really special." Aya stared down at her feet, a sudden forlorn look on her face, which made Remus' heart skip a beat. "Did...did I say something...wrong? I'm really sorry if I did, Aya!" Remus practically sobbed.
Aya blushed, saying, "Oh, it's fine, silly. Really, Remus, I'm totally fine." She smiled as if to prove it, but, though Remus nodded in agreement, he inwardly was not satisfied; he knew something was wrong, but decided to leave it alone.
The carriages pulled by invisible creatures of some sort waited in the dirt road as student after student made his or her way into them. Because they had moved to the back of the crowd, the Marauders, Lily, and their new companion were left with two remaining carriages. Silently, Sirius and Peter made their way in. Before he ventured inside, James counted the remaining number of seats, and was about to say that there was enough room for everyone when Lily, a mischievous look in her eyes, stepped on his foot to silence him and said, "Oh, look, there's only room for two more of us. Remus, why don't you and Aya get the other one? James and I don't want to be separated, and we certainly don't want to make Sirius and Peter move just after they sat down, right James?" Fearing more pain, James nodded quickly.
Clearly not taking the hint from Lily, Peter blurted out, "But, Lily, there's room enough-" Lily's death glare silenced him immediately. Narrowing his eyes at Lily, Remus motioned for Aya to move to the next carriage and silently helped her in, giving Lily his own version of a death glare. Lily smiled and giggled triumphantly and gave the boy a "thumbs up" sign. Remus sighed.
As the carriages moved on, James said, "Now, what the hell was that for, Lily?" But Lily continued to giggle to herself and would say no more.
The carriage ride to Hogwarts was one of the slowest for Remus as he sat dwindling his thumbs absentmindedly across from Aya, who remained silent, staring transfixed at her hands. The silence was deafening. After a time, Remus said, "Aren't you cold in just your bare feet, Aya? Where are your shoes? Surely your mother must've packed some for you?"
Blushing Aya looked up. "Oh, I'm fine."
Puzzled, Remus continued, "No, you're not. You're shivering a little. You can wear my shoes, if you would like. Then, when we get there, we can get your stuff and you can get your shoes. Where did your mother pack them?"
Aya looked away. "I...I don't have a mother." Remus wanted to murder himself.
"Oh...I'm...I'm so sorry...I didn't mean to..." he began, but Aya shrugged him off. Remus gritted his teeth in embarrassment and looked down at his hands again. As soon as I kill myself, he thought, I'm going to murder Lily for this, that sly prat. I told James we were too much of an influence on her, but, nooo, he said it was harmless...Well, now look at her, you dork! He looked up at Aya again and saw she was looking through the window and up at the sky. He could see in the moonlight that she was trying to keep her teeth from chattering. Silently, he took off his coat and sat down next to the girl, placing it around her shoulders. Startled, she looked at him and smiled in thanks. Realizing where he was, he jumped up immediately, whacked his head on the roof of the carriage, and sat down again, rubbing his head. Aya giggled, making Remus want to sink through the carriage. They sat for a while in silence, each uncomfortable. Aya resumed her staring at the sky, grateful for the added warmth from the heavy coat.
After a time, she said, "The moon's actually pretty tonight." Remus raised an eyebrow; he had never in his life considered the moon a pretty thing. "I love it when it's only just a sliver of a piece," she continued absentmindedly.
"I hate it when it's full," Remus said without thinking. Aya looked back at him, her face serene. Frantically trying to remain as far way from his certain "condition," he said hurriedly, "I mean...it's just so...so ugly when it's full. You know, just...way too bright."
Aya smiled. "Me too."
The carriage came to a sudden halt. It was then that he realized that nearly twenty minutes had passed since the carriage had set out, when it had only seemed like mere seconds to him. He marveled at it. As he stepped from the carriage and immediately helped Aya out (though still disgruntled by the fact that she did not have any shoes for her feet in the cold), Remus said, "Well, welcome to Hogwarts, Aya."
**
Well, there's chapter two for you guys...on a side note, ch. 1 took place during the very beginning of OotP. Let's just say Remus is visiting them? I hoped you liked ch. 2...ch. 3 soon to come!! Thank you! *bows and exits stage left*