Woah! I never expected sooo many reviews from only two chapters, let alone
people actually liking my story...Well, it inspires me to write even more...so,
A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE. Oh, and on a side note, I don't own anything
regarding Harry Potter, unless Rowling would like to sell the rights to me
at a reasonable price...yeah, yeah, I know, Syd...fat chance.
**
Ch.3-A Few Days to Full Moon
"Hmm...I guess Lily and the others decided to go along without us...I guess they're over there," Remus said, referring to the mass of students filing into Hogwarts. Sighing, Remus said, "Oh, well. Come on, Aya, let's attempt to actually get inside. And you're totally sure you don't want to wear my shoes?"
"For the last time, Remus, I'm completely sure," Aya said with a smile as she wrapped Remus' coat tightly around her. Admitting defeat, Remus led her through the mob, ignoring the stares he was now receiving since he was leading Aya by the hand. As he and Aya pushed their way through, several students yelled out some truly sophisticated remarks such as "Way to go, Remus" and "the cat's out of the bag, finally." Remus rolled his eyes and pushed on, intent on finding his friends as he and Aya passed through the giant oak doors of the school. Finally, they made it to the front of the mob and, not surprisingly, found the Marauders and Lily leaning against a wall, each with a small grin on their faces.
"You actually made it," Sirius said, "I hope all went well in the carriage?" It was obvious he was trying to keep himself from laughing.
Letting go of Aya's hand rather quickly, Remus glared at Lily, who was grinning in triumph, and mouthed something related to "I'm going to kill you very soon." Aya remained silent and observant. "Oh, I almost forgot," Lily said, shifting her eyes to Aya, "Have you been sorted yet?"
Narrowing her eyes as if in thought, Aya replied, "You mean that old hat process?" At a nod from Lily, she continued: "Yes, I've been 'sorted.'" She did not proceed.
After a pause, Remus blurted out in impatience, "So, what house are you in?" As he said this, he thought Please be Gryffindor...please, oh, please be Gryffindor.
"Oh, my house...Gryffindor," Aya said, remembering the sorting process she had gone through at her old school months ago when Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had arrived bearing the battered old hat.
"YES!" Remus shouted, then, realizing what he had just done, blushed madly and said haltingly, "Well...what I mean is...um...I meant...that...well...er...that's really sweet...no, I mean awesome...wait, no...I mean, Gryffindor's an awesome house, and I'm in it...well, yeah, and...uh...well, Lily and James and Sirius and Peter are in that house, too, so, yeah, there you go." The others stared at him, Lily with a look of pity, Sirius and James with a look of amusement, and Peter with a look of utter confusion. Aya looked at him with a small smile, making Remus' heart skip yet another beat.
"Wow, Remus," James said, "you've reached a whole new level of idiocy all by yourself. I'm so proud of you." Lily kicked him in the shins, making him howl with pain and having Sirius and Peter nearly choke with laughter. Remus' blush deepened. Just then, the doors leading to the Great Hall opened with a creak, and the students filed in rather loudly to sit at their house tables.
"Hey, this means you can sit with us, Aya!" Sirius said with a grin as they made their way towards the Gryffindor table. Lily, ever the mischievous one, somehow made sure that Remus and Aya sat next to each other. Though Remus wanted it so, he would also have liked nothing better than to have hid under the table right then and there. Remus, his obvious shyness winning over him, stared down at his interlaced fingers, wishing and not wishing that Aya would talk to him. Aya, however, stared around the Great Hall, this being her first time ever in the Hall, let alone Hogwarts. Annoyed at the fact his friend refused to talk to her, Sirius, after throwing a rumpled piece of paper he had held in his pocket at Remus, mouthed, Talk to her, you goddam idiot. Remus shrugged, helpless. However, he suddenly gained his confidence rather quickly when Sirius picked up his spoon and attempted to throw it at him.
"So, Aya..." But the boy never finished his sentence as he saw a familiar and unwanted figure coming towards them, the usual smirk on his face. "Hello, Severus," he said with a forced smile. Severus only raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Sirius balled his fists as James, monitored by Lily, as usual, attempted to stand and attack his hated fellow student.
"Well, if it isn't the wonderful Marauders. Back to your usual mischief, I presume?" Severus' eyes fell on Lily, and continued, "Miss Evans. A pleasure to see you again." And then he saw Aya, and blushed slightly. "Ah, a new student, I presume? Well, miss, my name is Severus Snape of Slytherin House. May I ask your name, miss?"
Raising an eyebrow, Aya replied, "It's Aya Centaria, Severus. Pleased to meet you," and shook the boy's outstretched hand.
"As am I pleased to meet you, Miss Aya," Severus said with a warm smile, which Aya returned in formality. Remus felt a pang of jealousy, and, unknowingly, moved closer to Aya so as to come between her and Severus. Severus, slightly angered by Remus' intrusion, sneered, "Well, I should return to my House table. Oh, and a word of caution for you, Miss Aya: I wouldn't hang around with this bunch, especially Remus. Let's just say things can get a little...hairy...with him sometimes. Farewell." He left with a triumphant grin on his face, leaving an outraged James, held down by Lily, and the rest of the Marauders. Aya watched him return to the Slytherin table, her eyes narrowed in thought.
"One of these days," Sirius breathed, "I'm gonna beat that punk's face into the goddam ground and kill him." Aya turned to him.
"'Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For, even the very wise cannot see all ends,'" she quoted, and her eyes spoke of amusement, though her face was calm.
Remus turned to her with a smile on his lips. "You've read Lord of the Rings. An excellent Gandalf quote, giving the obvious glory to Tolkein, of course." Aya smiled.
Then, a great voice boomed out over the Hall, silencing the usual chatter. "Silence, silence, all of you. Please allow the Sorting to begin!" came the voice of Professor McGonagall. The doors opened to reveal the terrified, white-faced first years as they made their way down the center aisle to the usual stool that held the famous Sorting Hat.
As the ceremony began, Remus leaned over to Aya and whispered, "This usually takes a long time, especially when you're hungry. If you want something to eat, I've got a chocolate frog in my pocket if you want it." Luckily for Remus, Professor McGonagall's voice overpowered all sounds in the Great Hall, making it easy to have a quiet conversation. Aya shook her head.
"I'm not all that hungry, just tired," she whispered back, "but I do hope they hurry. I've read that the food at Hogwarts is marvelous." Remus nodded.
Finally, the ceremony ended much to the satisfaction of both Remus and Aya. Then, Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, stepped forth and boomed, "Welcome, one and all, to a brand new year at Hogwarts! Along with the new batch of students, I would like also to welcome Miss Aya Centaria as a new student and member of Gryffindor House! She is an exchange student, if you will, in her sixth year, and I hope you can all give her a warm welcome!" There was a roar of applause and a few We've got more members than Slytherin, haha! from the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore raised his hand for silence. Once the students had quieted, he continued, "I would also like to reinforce to both our returning students and to our first years that the Whomping Willow" Remus looked down quickly, "and the Forbidden Forest are OFF LIMITS to all. Now, then, seeing as you all are hungry, and since I hate long speeches, let THE FEAST BEGIN!" Food magically appeared on each and every plate and platter as drink, mostly butterbeer, appeared in every goblet. The usual chatter rose again as each student dove into the meal.
Remus immediately helped Aya gather her food before he helped himself. After whispering thanks to him, she began eating alongside Remus, who had forgotten how hungry he had been in the last hour. After nearly an hour of dinner, drink, and, finally, dessert, what little food was left vanished. Again, Dumbledore stood and addressed the students. "Prefects, would you please assist your fellow House members to the proper dormitories. The password, as you know, has already been given to you. And make sure not to lose any first years," he called as student after student followed the shouting prefects out of the Hall. Silently, he sat back down and drained his mug, stealing a glance at McGonagall, who sat next to him.
"Well," McGonagall said as both she and Dumbledore watched Remus take Aya by the hand and personally lead her out of the Great Hall, "everything is in place, as you said, Albus. Oh, and don't worry, I give you my utmost trust in this, as usual."
Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling, "All that is left, my dear Minerva, is to observe and hope this works."
**
"You'll be sleeping in a dormitory with Lily and a few other girls. They were short a girl last year, so you get the extra bed by the window, I presume," Remus explained as he lead Aya up the ever-moving staircases to the Gryffindor dormitories. As they made their way towards where the other members of Gryffindor stood outside the Fat Lady's portrait, he instinctively let go of her hand, his face blushing madly as he realized he had not let go of it since they had left the Great Hall. And, he thought with a surging feeling of happiness, she didn't let go either. "All right, all right, make way, prefect coming through here," he said, brandishing his prefect badge that he pulled from his pocket as he pushed his way through the crowd, making sure Aya followed.
"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.
"Lovely lemons sparkle," Remus said. The portrait swung open, allowing each student to crawl through. Remus waited until the Marauders and Lily caught up with him, then, letting Aya go first, crawled through the portrait into the Gryffindor common room. "This, Aya, is the common room," he said as he stepped out of the portrait hole. The room, as usual, was fully equipped with comfy armchairs, tables to study at and play games, and a roaring fire. "Up the stairs to the left," Remus said, pointing, "is the girls' dormitories. The boys' dormitories is to the right."
"Come on, Aya," Lily said, yawning and taking Aya by the arm, "you're in my room. Let's get to bed." Aya nodded, and, just before Lily dragged her away, stole an amused glance at Remus, who blushed and smiled. The two girls made their way up the stairs, turned left, and disappeared into their room. Remus watched Aya go with a truly happy smile.
James yawned. "Well, let's follow their example. I'm absolutely sleepy right now, and I want to be well rested for another year of wandering around on a full moon," he said quietly, so as no one would hear. The rest of the Marauders made their way to their own room. After closing the door, Remus stretched and made his way over to his bed, which lay by the window, and, after unpacking his suitcase, which had been placed on the bed already, and closing the curtain that surrounded the bed, got into his pajamas.
"So, Remus," Sirius called from his own bed, "you're a true gentleman with the ladies, eh? You've probably got Aya's heart by now, aside from letting her know you're an absolute idiot, you little wolf. Ah, speaking of wolf, when's the next full moon? I've been cracking my knuckles in anticipation for another adventure, you know."
"Oh, that. September the twenty-sixth, if you want to know," Remus answered.
Sirius chuckled. "Just a few more days. A few days till full moon, I can't wait!"
"You can't wait," Remus said with a grimace as he opened the curtain, "because you don't have to worry about getting your body ripped into an animal form, now do you? Oh, come off it, Sirius, I'm only joking," he said at Sirius' apologetic look.
"Come on, let's just go to sleep, it's already late," Peter said as he got under his covers. The others followed his example as James turned off the light.
As Remus lay there, staring at the moon, he wondered if he actually knew what love was like, and, if he didn't, whether or not he would be able to handle it.
**
Well, there's Ch. 3...sorry it took me so long. Lots of schoolwork, you know. Well, tell me what you think, and I hoped you enjoyed my little Tolkein quote (FRODO LIVES...er, sorry, again). You'll be getting quite a few more quotes, so prepare yourself. Well, farewell!
**
Ch.3-A Few Days to Full Moon
"Hmm...I guess Lily and the others decided to go along without us...I guess they're over there," Remus said, referring to the mass of students filing into Hogwarts. Sighing, Remus said, "Oh, well. Come on, Aya, let's attempt to actually get inside. And you're totally sure you don't want to wear my shoes?"
"For the last time, Remus, I'm completely sure," Aya said with a smile as she wrapped Remus' coat tightly around her. Admitting defeat, Remus led her through the mob, ignoring the stares he was now receiving since he was leading Aya by the hand. As he and Aya pushed their way through, several students yelled out some truly sophisticated remarks such as "Way to go, Remus" and "the cat's out of the bag, finally." Remus rolled his eyes and pushed on, intent on finding his friends as he and Aya passed through the giant oak doors of the school. Finally, they made it to the front of the mob and, not surprisingly, found the Marauders and Lily leaning against a wall, each with a small grin on their faces.
"You actually made it," Sirius said, "I hope all went well in the carriage?" It was obvious he was trying to keep himself from laughing.
Letting go of Aya's hand rather quickly, Remus glared at Lily, who was grinning in triumph, and mouthed something related to "I'm going to kill you very soon." Aya remained silent and observant. "Oh, I almost forgot," Lily said, shifting her eyes to Aya, "Have you been sorted yet?"
Narrowing her eyes as if in thought, Aya replied, "You mean that old hat process?" At a nod from Lily, she continued: "Yes, I've been 'sorted.'" She did not proceed.
After a pause, Remus blurted out in impatience, "So, what house are you in?" As he said this, he thought Please be Gryffindor...please, oh, please be Gryffindor.
"Oh, my house...Gryffindor," Aya said, remembering the sorting process she had gone through at her old school months ago when Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall had arrived bearing the battered old hat.
"YES!" Remus shouted, then, realizing what he had just done, blushed madly and said haltingly, "Well...what I mean is...um...I meant...that...well...er...that's really sweet...no, I mean awesome...wait, no...I mean, Gryffindor's an awesome house, and I'm in it...well, yeah, and...uh...well, Lily and James and Sirius and Peter are in that house, too, so, yeah, there you go." The others stared at him, Lily with a look of pity, Sirius and James with a look of amusement, and Peter with a look of utter confusion. Aya looked at him with a small smile, making Remus' heart skip yet another beat.
"Wow, Remus," James said, "you've reached a whole new level of idiocy all by yourself. I'm so proud of you." Lily kicked him in the shins, making him howl with pain and having Sirius and Peter nearly choke with laughter. Remus' blush deepened. Just then, the doors leading to the Great Hall opened with a creak, and the students filed in rather loudly to sit at their house tables.
"Hey, this means you can sit with us, Aya!" Sirius said with a grin as they made their way towards the Gryffindor table. Lily, ever the mischievous one, somehow made sure that Remus and Aya sat next to each other. Though Remus wanted it so, he would also have liked nothing better than to have hid under the table right then and there. Remus, his obvious shyness winning over him, stared down at his interlaced fingers, wishing and not wishing that Aya would talk to him. Aya, however, stared around the Great Hall, this being her first time ever in the Hall, let alone Hogwarts. Annoyed at the fact his friend refused to talk to her, Sirius, after throwing a rumpled piece of paper he had held in his pocket at Remus, mouthed, Talk to her, you goddam idiot. Remus shrugged, helpless. However, he suddenly gained his confidence rather quickly when Sirius picked up his spoon and attempted to throw it at him.
"So, Aya..." But the boy never finished his sentence as he saw a familiar and unwanted figure coming towards them, the usual smirk on his face. "Hello, Severus," he said with a forced smile. Severus only raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Sirius balled his fists as James, monitored by Lily, as usual, attempted to stand and attack his hated fellow student.
"Well, if it isn't the wonderful Marauders. Back to your usual mischief, I presume?" Severus' eyes fell on Lily, and continued, "Miss Evans. A pleasure to see you again." And then he saw Aya, and blushed slightly. "Ah, a new student, I presume? Well, miss, my name is Severus Snape of Slytherin House. May I ask your name, miss?"
Raising an eyebrow, Aya replied, "It's Aya Centaria, Severus. Pleased to meet you," and shook the boy's outstretched hand.
"As am I pleased to meet you, Miss Aya," Severus said with a warm smile, which Aya returned in formality. Remus felt a pang of jealousy, and, unknowingly, moved closer to Aya so as to come between her and Severus. Severus, slightly angered by Remus' intrusion, sneered, "Well, I should return to my House table. Oh, and a word of caution for you, Miss Aya: I wouldn't hang around with this bunch, especially Remus. Let's just say things can get a little...hairy...with him sometimes. Farewell." He left with a triumphant grin on his face, leaving an outraged James, held down by Lily, and the rest of the Marauders. Aya watched him return to the Slytherin table, her eyes narrowed in thought.
"One of these days," Sirius breathed, "I'm gonna beat that punk's face into the goddam ground and kill him." Aya turned to him.
"'Do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For, even the very wise cannot see all ends,'" she quoted, and her eyes spoke of amusement, though her face was calm.
Remus turned to her with a smile on his lips. "You've read Lord of the Rings. An excellent Gandalf quote, giving the obvious glory to Tolkein, of course." Aya smiled.
Then, a great voice boomed out over the Hall, silencing the usual chatter. "Silence, silence, all of you. Please allow the Sorting to begin!" came the voice of Professor McGonagall. The doors opened to reveal the terrified, white-faced first years as they made their way down the center aisle to the usual stool that held the famous Sorting Hat.
As the ceremony began, Remus leaned over to Aya and whispered, "This usually takes a long time, especially when you're hungry. If you want something to eat, I've got a chocolate frog in my pocket if you want it." Luckily for Remus, Professor McGonagall's voice overpowered all sounds in the Great Hall, making it easy to have a quiet conversation. Aya shook her head.
"I'm not all that hungry, just tired," she whispered back, "but I do hope they hurry. I've read that the food at Hogwarts is marvelous." Remus nodded.
Finally, the ceremony ended much to the satisfaction of both Remus and Aya. Then, Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, stepped forth and boomed, "Welcome, one and all, to a brand new year at Hogwarts! Along with the new batch of students, I would like also to welcome Miss Aya Centaria as a new student and member of Gryffindor House! She is an exchange student, if you will, in her sixth year, and I hope you can all give her a warm welcome!" There was a roar of applause and a few We've got more members than Slytherin, haha! from the Gryffindor table. Dumbledore raised his hand for silence. Once the students had quieted, he continued, "I would also like to reinforce to both our returning students and to our first years that the Whomping Willow" Remus looked down quickly, "and the Forbidden Forest are OFF LIMITS to all. Now, then, seeing as you all are hungry, and since I hate long speeches, let THE FEAST BEGIN!" Food magically appeared on each and every plate and platter as drink, mostly butterbeer, appeared in every goblet. The usual chatter rose again as each student dove into the meal.
Remus immediately helped Aya gather her food before he helped himself. After whispering thanks to him, she began eating alongside Remus, who had forgotten how hungry he had been in the last hour. After nearly an hour of dinner, drink, and, finally, dessert, what little food was left vanished. Again, Dumbledore stood and addressed the students. "Prefects, would you please assist your fellow House members to the proper dormitories. The password, as you know, has already been given to you. And make sure not to lose any first years," he called as student after student followed the shouting prefects out of the Hall. Silently, he sat back down and drained his mug, stealing a glance at McGonagall, who sat next to him.
"Well," McGonagall said as both she and Dumbledore watched Remus take Aya by the hand and personally lead her out of the Great Hall, "everything is in place, as you said, Albus. Oh, and don't worry, I give you my utmost trust in this, as usual."
Dumbledore smiled, his eyes twinkling, "All that is left, my dear Minerva, is to observe and hope this works."
**
"You'll be sleeping in a dormitory with Lily and a few other girls. They were short a girl last year, so you get the extra bed by the window, I presume," Remus explained as he lead Aya up the ever-moving staircases to the Gryffindor dormitories. As they made their way towards where the other members of Gryffindor stood outside the Fat Lady's portrait, he instinctively let go of her hand, his face blushing madly as he realized he had not let go of it since they had left the Great Hall. And, he thought with a surging feeling of happiness, she didn't let go either. "All right, all right, make way, prefect coming through here," he said, brandishing his prefect badge that he pulled from his pocket as he pushed his way through the crowd, making sure Aya followed.
"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.
"Lovely lemons sparkle," Remus said. The portrait swung open, allowing each student to crawl through. Remus waited until the Marauders and Lily caught up with him, then, letting Aya go first, crawled through the portrait into the Gryffindor common room. "This, Aya, is the common room," he said as he stepped out of the portrait hole. The room, as usual, was fully equipped with comfy armchairs, tables to study at and play games, and a roaring fire. "Up the stairs to the left," Remus said, pointing, "is the girls' dormitories. The boys' dormitories is to the right."
"Come on, Aya," Lily said, yawning and taking Aya by the arm, "you're in my room. Let's get to bed." Aya nodded, and, just before Lily dragged her away, stole an amused glance at Remus, who blushed and smiled. The two girls made their way up the stairs, turned left, and disappeared into their room. Remus watched Aya go with a truly happy smile.
James yawned. "Well, let's follow their example. I'm absolutely sleepy right now, and I want to be well rested for another year of wandering around on a full moon," he said quietly, so as no one would hear. The rest of the Marauders made their way to their own room. After closing the door, Remus stretched and made his way over to his bed, which lay by the window, and, after unpacking his suitcase, which had been placed on the bed already, and closing the curtain that surrounded the bed, got into his pajamas.
"So, Remus," Sirius called from his own bed, "you're a true gentleman with the ladies, eh? You've probably got Aya's heart by now, aside from letting her know you're an absolute idiot, you little wolf. Ah, speaking of wolf, when's the next full moon? I've been cracking my knuckles in anticipation for another adventure, you know."
"Oh, that. September the twenty-sixth, if you want to know," Remus answered.
Sirius chuckled. "Just a few more days. A few days till full moon, I can't wait!"
"You can't wait," Remus said with a grimace as he opened the curtain, "because you don't have to worry about getting your body ripped into an animal form, now do you? Oh, come off it, Sirius, I'm only joking," he said at Sirius' apologetic look.
"Come on, let's just go to sleep, it's already late," Peter said as he got under his covers. The others followed his example as James turned off the light.
As Remus lay there, staring at the moon, he wondered if he actually knew what love was like, and, if he didn't, whether or not he would be able to handle it.
**
Well, there's Ch. 3...sorry it took me so long. Lots of schoolwork, you know. Well, tell me what you think, and I hoped you enjoyed my little Tolkein quote (FRODO LIVES...er, sorry, again). You'll be getting quite a few more quotes, so prepare yourself. Well, farewell!