"Hey, Lily! Lllllllliiiiilllllyyyy!!!" Rain screamed down the platform, causing several people to point and look at her.
"Over here!" Lily called, waving Rain over. She had just finished saying 'good-bye' to her parents and was all revved up for her new school.
Next to her Severus groaned, "And it was just about to get quiet...", but he was smiling as Rain raced over to them, only slightly hampered but her huge trunk and the large cage sitting on top of it.
Before Rain even reached them she was calling, "Lets go find seats!" After exchanging quick greetings, they walked straight past the packed first few carriages, to the last one with seats in it. Rain led the way into the ruby red steam engine to the very last compartment.
"We have arrived!" Rain threw open the door like she was entering a game show , but the audience was limited to a one. A tall, gawky, cute boy with extremely long limbs and shaggy clothes, he flicked dirty blond bangs out of his eyes and glanced away from the window when Rain came through open the door.
"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't think anyone wanted this compartment, I'll leave." He stood up and reached for his trunk, hanging in the tiny compartments above their heads.
"Stay! Its more fun with more people, besides we need some strong men to help us lift up our trunks anyway." Rain told him.
"What, I don't count as a strong man?" Severus teased, slightly uncomfortable with their new quest.
"Wait, your a guy?" She asked with fake innocence.
Lily smiled at the new boy comfortingly, "Ignore them, their just excited. Could you help me lift up my trunk?" Severus glared at him as he took Lily's trunk from her and lifted it above his head, politely he did the same to Rain's. Severus attempted to lift his own and was fine until he got it above his head, his arms buckled, the new boy caught it just before it hit the ground, and, ignoring Severus's jealous stare, lifted it up for him.
Only after they were settled did Rain ask, "So, stranger, whats your name?"
The boy smiled at her, "Remus. Remus Lupin."
"I'm Rain, this is Lily, and Severus." She pointed to her friends in turn. They were all silent for a while, watching the last of the stragglers say good bye and get on the train. One hansom boy with black hair got onto their carriage through the backdoor, behind them.
"The beautiful person has arrived!" The boy they'd watched get on behind them, walk through the door and slammed it shut behind him, he grinned wickedly at them all, gray eyes shining brightly with excitement. "Sirius Black." That was about all the introduction they'd get from him as he flopped on to the seat next to Remus after cramming a trunk onto their already full shelves, he stretched out like a cat and rested his arms behind his head.
"Beautiful?" Rain raised one eyebrow, "Well, your mother might say that, but...."
"Hey!" He complained while everyone else smiled.
"You set yourself up for that one, mate." Remus told him.
Severus was the first to break the awkward after Rain's joke, he turned to the new boys "So, what houses do you two think your going to be placed in?"
"Slytherin." Sirius said it without bravo, as if it were already official.
"I'd like to be in Gryffindor, but I'll probably be in Hufflepuff." Remus said shyly
"Really? You look kind of like the brave and brawny type to me." Lily told him innocently, next to her Severus bristled.
Remus smiled at them in return "What house do you think you'll be in?"
Before Lily could answer Severus replied "We're both going to be in Slytherin."
Sirius toasted them with an imaginary glass, as Remus turned to Rain. "And you?"
"I don't know much about the sorting test, but I think I'll be placed in Ravenclaw."
There was an overlapping of voices and Remus calmly replied "You must be quiet smart then?" but at the same time Lily cried in distress "We have to take a test?!!"
Speculation on the sorting ceremony overtook all other topics of discussion, Remus even convinced half the group to study 'Hogwarts, A History.', until their compartment door rattled open to reveal a smiling, dimpled women. "Anything off the cart, dears?"
"Oh! A round of pumpkin pasties for everyone, please." Rain stood up and dug into her pocket for money.
"I'll buy." Sirius offered, standing up to dig into his own pocket.
"Thats alright, I've got it." Rain said.
"I couldn't let a Lady pay for my food."
"Why not? Whats wrong with a girl buying you something?" She shot back.
"It'd be...rude, if I just let you buy everyone food." He said these words with a little more force, and turned to the women. "Can I have a round of pasties for everyone?"
"Can I have two rounds of pasties for everyone?" Rain asked her, counting out three sickles in her hand.
"Can I have three?"
"Wait, no, give me five rounds."
"Eight!"
"Ten!"
"Sorry darlings, your the end of the line, I only have a dozen left." The women told them.
The were too busy arguing to even hear her.
"Twelve!"
"Twenty."
"Twenty five!"
"Thirty five!"
Lily inched around them and quietly asked the women for ten pasties, they traded three silver sickles and the white wax bag with pasties. "Guys?" She waved the bag in their faces. "I just bought the last she had."
Rain sent her a mock glare and leaned around her. "Can I have a round of cauldron cakes?"
"Can I have a round?"
"Oh no you wont!"
"Just both get something different, and let the lady get on with her job!" Lily cried, thoroughly exasperated with them.
"Fine, give me an extra extra large package of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans." Rain asked to women.
"I'll take two rounds of chocolate frogs, for everyone." Satisfied that they were spending the same amount of money, the two piled their loot on the floor in the middle of the cabin and sat back down.
Lily turned over a package of Bertie Botts in her hands, with diluted curiosity. "Are these good?" She asked Remus, who was sitting across from her.
"I don't know, I've never even heard of them. I'll take one though." Remus held out her hand and Lily handed him an odd lime green one.
"Toss me one!" Sirius made a goal post with his fingers around his mouth. Lily threw him a eggplant colored bean, missing entirely, it landed on his lap. They all watched curiously as he inspected it, before throwing it up, into an flashy arc that ended in his mouth. To everyone's evident amusement, his face scrunched up, he had to take several gulps of his pastie before he managed to choke out, "Cough Medicine flavored!"
Remus inspected his with a new found caution, he nibbled off just the end of the bean. His eyebrows shot into his hairline, "Celery!"
"My turn!" Rain leaned around Severus to pluck a white bean out of Lily's bag. Now in the limelight, she popped the entire thing into her mouth, and chewed very slowly and deliberately. "Mayonnaise flavor!"
"Jeez, when they say every flavor, they mean every flavor!" Lily angled so she could see inside the bag, contemplating taking the risk. She offered it to Severus, who was being unusually quiet.
_______________________________
"Scooch over!" Sirius whispered to Rain, gesturing for her to move closer to Remus.
"No! Hagrid said only four to a boat."
"What, you want me to go sit with some strangers?" He asked, looking wounded.
"We're strangers, look, that boat only has three boys in it!" She gestured over to a boat whose occupants were chatting away like old friends.
"Move over or I'll sit in your lap!" Sirius threatened, not that he would mind sitting in the pretty girls lap...
"This isn't going to work." Rolling her eyes for good measure, Rain shifted so she was pressed against Remus's side, leaving a tiny space for Sirius.
"Thanks!" Sirius whispered enthusiastically as he jammed himself down next to her, making the boat tilt dangerously.
"Sirius! What are you doing?" Lily hissed across from him.
"Gracing you all with my lovely presence." He winked at her.
"Everyone in? Right- F'RWARD!" Hagrid's roar echoed down the riverbank, and the boats started to move slowly off the shore. It became quite obvious that their boat had extra weight, it was going much slower than any of the others. Several of the students started to lean around each other to peer into their boat, trying to see why they were going so slow. Sirius started to shift his weight ever so slowly, the boat started to tilt back and forth, making them go a little faster.
"Your going to make us tip!" Remus said, glaring over Rain's head at him.
"I have no idea what you talking about." Sirius said with mock innocence. The boat started to rock a bit fast. Rain had to grab Sirius's arm to steady herself, but quickly let go when he gave her a sly look.
"Stop it!" Severus growled, the effect was slightly ruined though, when he made a grab for the rim of the boat to keep him from falling of his seat.
"Oh ye of little faith," Sirius looked at them mournfully. "I bet all the boats are covered in charms to repel water and stay right side-up.
"Maybe, and maybe not, so don't test it." Remus told him.
"Please stop." Lily begged him, looking a little green around the edges.
"What, are you afraid of a little water?" The boat was rocking extremely close to the edge now.
"Yes! I don't know how to sw-" Whatever she was going to say, was cut off by a scream. The whole boat tipped completely over on its side, sending them all tumbling into the black, murky water. Everyone resurface covered in mud and seaweed, except for Lily.
Much too Sirius's amusement, the whole boat lay on its side for a moment, before grandly falling back onto its stomach. Now without any passengers, it sped away from them slickly, much faster than any of them could swim, leaving them to all tred water. "There goes our ride."
"You prick!" Severus yelled at him, he searched the murky water worriedly, "LILY!"
"Don't. Panic." Hagrid yelled over the water, sounding as if he should be obeying his own advice. "The mermaids or the squid with pick you up!" Remus dove under to get Lily, a few feet down he was swallowed by the blackness, they could no longer see him.
"Squid?" Rain yelled back to Hagrid, convinced she'd misheard him.
"Minerva will find you on the shore!" Hagrid yelled as the boats disappeared into the mist.
The three waited for what seemed like forever, but could only have been a few minutes. Finally, when Remus and Lily had shown no sign of life, Severus snapped. "This is all your fault." And before they could stop him, he dove under, feebly kicking his legs. And then there were two.
"Well, this is quite..." Rain glanced around at the cold water and creepy mist, groping for a word to describe their situation.
"Exotic?" He finished for her. "There could be worse things than being alone with a girl." Always the flirt.
She gave him a distracted smile- before gasping, "Somethings got my foot!"
Sirius glanced down, between the folds of her robe something pale green was slowly rapping around her leg, making its way toward her waist. "Its just a piece of seaweed."
"Its moving!"
"No-look, I'll get it off." Sirius started to move closer to her, when he was within reaching distance of her leg he leaned forward to get a closer look. "You're right, it looks like a...grindylow?" It was incredibly doubtful that she heard him though, because right then, whatever it was shot downwards, dragging her under water.
He waited patiently, and fearfully for a few minuets, if anyone was down there, they'd be dead by now, normal humans can only survive about two minutes without air. "Guys?" He called, laughing nervously. "Ha ha, look, you got me back for tipping you. You can all come back now!"
Someone splashed him from behind. "See, that wasn't so hard!" He spun around, coming face to face with a pale girl, her eyes were bloodshot and yellow. Messy dreadlocks fell past her cannibalistic pointed teeth. "Well, hello there. Who might does this lovely lady have a name?"
The women stayed silent, she lifted her arms, so pale the skin looked all most see through. For the first time, Sirius realized she had no legs. Instead. a long curvy fish tail snaked through the water until she was inches from him. She wrapped both her arms around his neck, and yanked him roughly under the water.
Mentally, he cursed himself for being so stupid. He'd heard enough stories about merpeople kidnapping to fill the entire lake. He should have known. He thrashed and dug his fingernails into the mermaid's arms, but they were like lead, dragging him into the watery depths. The more he fought, the tighter the mermaid held him, until it became almost impossible to keep him from screaming and letting his precious air bubbles from escaping. Only when his vision swam with black worms, did he stubbornly let the bubbles escape.
Sirius was only dimly aware when the mermaid stopped, through slitted eyes he watched, barley coherent, as she leaned toward him, the mermaid pressed her lips to his. 'Getting hot babes, even it death.' he couldn't help thinking. The mermaid slammed air into his lungs, and he had to clench his jaw to keep from coughing. As his eyes cleared, the mermaid continued yanking him through the water.
After fifteen minutes of the 'breath of life' kisses and fast swimming through the opaque water, the mermaid broke the surface. She practically threw Sirius into shallow water, where he landed on something soft.
"Oomph! Get off!" Squirming under him was Rain, who had apparently been attempting to drag herself onto the beech when he was flung on top of her.
He muttered quick apologies as they helped each other stand up, and made their way up to the rocky beach. The missing members of their group were all on the beach in different states of disarray. Remus was wringing out his shabby robes, while Severus draped his arm over Lily protectively a few feet away.
"W-w-what were those things?" Lily stammered, shivering so hard from the cold, her teeth clacked together.
"Mermaids, I think." Sirius answered her.
"You think? What, were too busy getting some action to look properly?" It was obvious that Rain had seen at least one of the breath kisses he and the mermaid had shared.
Remus ignored them, looking up at the huge castle towering over them. Through a huge window they could see a hall full of people, in the center was a short line of their fellow first years, diminishing quickly. "Do you think we should go inside?"
Rain scanned the riverside, "Hagrid told us that there would be a 'Minerva', that she would find us on the shore."
"Do you think its a riddle?" Severus asked them snottily, refusing to look at Sirius.
"Could this be our entrance test?" Lily whispered, looking very small and soggy.
"Minerva...could it mean something in another language?" Remus was raking his eyes over every possible attribute of the scenery. "Like, rock?"
"No, I think it might be a statue, or something." Rain wrung out her hair.
"Actually, Minerva's a person." Someone whispered out of the dark.
Remus drew his wand, facing the night. "Who's there?"
"Your the students that fell into the water?" A man stepped into the moonlight, out of the shadows of a tree. He was tall and abnormally thin with huge owlish eyes. Their wet clothing seemed to answer his question for him, "Follow me." The man had a twisted off-kilter aura, like a broken machine.
Lily and Severus stood up, not knowing what else to do, they walked in a close group after the man. He lead them up a thin animal track, ending on smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up stone steps to a huge door, the man opened it without knocking and, without a glance back to see if they were following, lead them into the castle.
They entered a huge stone entryway lit by flaming torches, a magnificent white marble staircase lead up to the upper floors. He lead them across the stone floors, and opened another door, this one tinier than the last. On the other side was the great hall they'd seen through the window, but now they could see the whole thing, decorated in floating candles and a ceiling made of sky. Four long tables stretched the length of the long room, all covered in golden plates and goblets. At the front of the room another long table had the same eating utensils made of gold, a group of teachers sat at it in intervals.
They entered through the door quietly, trying not to draw too much attention. Siting directly in the center of the teachers table was a silver haired man, with a long bearded. It looked like they'd just interrupted his speech. ""The Forbidden Forest, as its name suggests, remains forbidden. Any seventh-year students requiring access for herbologyprojects may speak with Hagrid."
"Likewise regarding our fauna and flora, Hogwarts - with the assistance of Professor Sedley - has managed to acquire a rare Whomping Willow specimen, which has been planted in the north meadow - quite fascinating. However, it's known for being temperamental, and I ask that all students avoid it. Ah, I see the rest of our first years have arrived." So much for being inconspicuous, at the mans words every face sitting at the long tables turned toward them like a wave.
A women in a green shawl with a stern face stood up and walked around the table to a stool sitting in front of it. "Would you please come forward."
They walked down the center aisle in a disorganized clump, dripping water all over the shiny floors. Curious, they stopped in the front of the room, ten feet from the women in a green shawl.
She lifted a list out of her pocket, "When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on this stool to be sorted." Glancing down at her list one last time she called out "Black, Sirius!"
Sirius took his time swaggering up there, and with a arrogant flourish he placed himself on the seat. The women in green snatched a dusty, old looking hat off the teachers table and handed it over. His group of friends were the only ones close enough to hear him when he muttered, "Not much of a fashion statement." He settled the the hat over his ears, and his eyes seemed to fog over before the hat screamed.
"GRYFFINDOR!"
One of the tables roared with cheering, suppository the Gryffindors. The green women glanced at her list once more. "Che'vock, Raina!"
Sirius slipped the hat off his head and left it on the chair for Rain, and he walked, smirking and suprised, over to the Gryffindors. Rain placed the hat on delicately, where it slid past her eyes and on to her nose. It took longer to chose her house than Sirius's, but finally screamed, "GRYFFINDOR!"
This time, the Gryffindors added a few catcalls to their clapping and cheering. "Evens, Lily!"
Lily stepped up to the stool, still shivering, and took the hat from Rain, who gave her a concerned smile. Placing it on her own head, where it fit much better than it had on Rain's head. It barley touched her hair before it screamed. "GRYFFINDOR!"
She looked extremely surprised as she set the hat down on the stool, sending Severus a sad smile, before joining her house. "Remus, Lupin!"
Before he left Remus whispered to Severus, "I'm starting to see a trend in houses, good luck."
When Remus set the hat on his head, it twisted to look down at his face, say quietly in his ear. "Ah, a werewolf?" He could feel the hat sifting through his mind, and he mentally tried to repeat, 'Gryffindor, Gryffindor, Gryffindor...' The hat seemed to think for a while before shouting, like he did for all the others. "GRYFFINDOR!"
"Snape, Severus!"
Severus climbed up to the stool with trembling legs. How could Lily have been sorted in Gryffindor? The hat must have made a mistake! He settled the hat on his head, and only after a moment, longer than Lily's, but shorter than Sirius's, the hat screeched. "SLYTHERIN!"
The table farthest from the Gryffindors erupted in cheers and Severus met Lily's eyes once more across the room, he clambered off the tall stool to join his new house, feeling as if everything had suddenly gone very wrong, very fast.
The man with silver hair had gotten to his feet. He was beaming out at the crowds of students, his arms opened wide as if he couldn't be more overjoyed to see them. "Now that we've gotten that sorted out, welcome! Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, as always, I would like too say a few words! Frizzy, vouch, clippers! Thank you, and let the feast begin!"
With a extravagant wave of his arm, the all the golden plates on the tables were filled with food. Roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon, boiled potato, Yorkshire pudding...the list went on an on, every plate was piled high with delicious food.
"It'll be all right, we'll see the Slytherins all the time, they have tons of classes with us!" Rain gave Lily a comforting smile, watching her look at the Slytherin table with longing.
"I hope not!" said a girl next too her, she stuck out her hand to Lily, "I'm Alice Young, I'm a first year too! And this," She pointed across the table to a boy picking at his food, "is Frank Longbottom, my boyfriend!"
Rain's eyes followed her finger, she stopped her fork halfway to her mouth. A little way down the table, talking to Frank, was a silver see-through man. He was dressed in ruffly, old fashioned, see through clothing, that looked as if it belonged in the 1660's french court. "My goodness, what is that?"
"Oh him? Hes Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-er...something, he's the ghost of Gryffindor tower. Theres a ghost for every tower." Right at the moment Alice said his name, to Rain and Lily's surprise, in what looked like a reply to a question, the ghost ripped off his head and sat it on his shoulder, like it was attached only by a thin hinge. Ignoring the ghost, Alice shoveled more food into her mouth and spun back to face them.
But before Alice could speak again, a blond girl across from them claimed their attention. "I'm soooo glad you girls showed up! All the houses, except Gryffindor, had, like, sixteen people! Gryffindor only had, like, twelve! Six girls and seven boys! Not that I mind having more boys than girls, but some of them a kinda creepy! Ya know?" Does she ever shut up? "Like, take that kid for example!" She pointed to a chubby, watery eyed kid sitting next to Remus. "He looks like a rat! And I heard on the train, that he already asked Shelby out! How gross is that, I mean he didn't even try to get to know her. But the boys you guys came in with, can you say, like, eye candy? Look at that Sirius Black!"
The girl was starting to remind Rain of Ashley, But Lily spoke before she could say anything, "Oh, yeah, I guess... Who's the boy sitting next too him?"
The blond girl leaned forward so she could see better. She dipped her hair in Ketchup, but didn't notice. "You mean James? Hes adorable, I hear he's a Quidditch player!"
"Quidditch?" Lily asked, watching the newly identified James run his hands through his hair.
"You don't know what Qudditch is?" Alice exclaimed, almost spilling pumpkin juice down her front. The blond girl reeled back, almost falling off her seat.
"Um, no?" Lily said uncertainly, looking to Rain for help.
Rain, not looking at all interested, pushed her mashed potatoes to one side of her plate, "Its like muggle football, but with brooms."
"Its nothing like muggle football!" The blond hissed. "Football is all about guys smashing into each other, and being boorish! Qudditch is graceful!"
Rain was having a very hard time not snorting into her pumpkin juice, as Alice started to explain the rules to Lily. "The game is played by two teams of seven people and involves four balls. The Keeper guards the goal posts, the three Chasers score goals with the Quaffle, the two Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team, and lastly the Seeker catches the Golden Snitch."
"The object of the game is to score more points than your opponent. Each goal is worth ten points and catching the Snitch is worth one hundred and fifty points. The game ends when the Snitch is caught or an agreement is reached between the captains of both teams."
"Your so missing out! We'll have to take you to the first game of the season!"
"Everyone goes to the first game!" Alice said, like the blond should know that already.
Lily was looking back and forth, between the two girls, but could hear Rain mumble "Not everyone."
When everyone in the hall was done eating, the food vanished. The man with long silver hair stood again, "Ahem- Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you."
"Classes for first years start the day after tomorrow, I suggest the first years use tomorrow to socialize and get settled."
"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact their house's head teacher."
He flicked his wand out at them all, "And now, bed time! Off you all trot!"
The Gryffindor first years followed the boy with a prefects badge that had told them to change on the train out of the hall, and up the marble staircase, Rain and Lily stayed behind.
"Do you see him?" Lily was craning her head anxiously to see over the Ravenclaws in front of them to see if Severus was still sitting with the Slytherins. She grabbed Rain's hand, together they threaded through the crowds of people to the Slytherin table.
"Excuse me," Rain tapped a boy with long silvery blond hair on the shoulder, he looked young enough to be in their year. He turned to frown hauntingly at them, "Do you know where Severus Snape is?"
"Who wants to know?" Behind the him, two muscular boys grinned nastily at them.
"Lily Evans" Lily was ignoring the boys behind him.
"Evans? That isn't a pureblood surname. So, why are you talking to me?" He gestured for them to shoo and turned back to his friends.
Lily smiled uncertainly. "I'm not a pureblood."
He repeated himself sarcastically without turning around. "Exactly, why are you talking to me?"
Rain layed a hand of his shoulder, as if he were a good friend. With false sounding cheerfulness she said, "I'm Raina Che'vock." she gave him a pat and returned her hand to her pocket.
The boy turned around very fast, he had a fake, almost robotic smile. The boys behind him suddenly looked much more friendly. "Che'vock! I'm Lucius Malfoy." The boy patted the seat next to him, an invitation for them to sit down. "Severus just went to the common room, would you like to sit down and have a nice chat? Later we could show you the way to the dungeons."
It was like watching a court dace, everyone overly polite and fake, as if afraid to offended the other. "Though I'm sure your companionship is quite lovely, I must decline your offer." Rain smiled in a queenly way and looped her arm through Lily's. "You see, I really must find my own common room."
The question of 'If not Slytherin, what house do you belong too?' was on Lucius's lips when Rain offered a polite smile and pulled Lily down the aisle. As soon as they were out of earshot Rains smile melted into a frown and she said hotly "I hate people like that!"
"Why are most purebloods in Slytherin?" Lily asked her.
"Me and Sirius aren't in Slytherin." Rain pointed out.
Lily blinked at her in supries. "Sirius is a pureblood? How did you know?"
Rain shrugged in quiet shyness, as if she hadn't realized she'd given away that information. "I had to study all the Pureblood surnames."
"Why?"
Rain either didn't hear her, or was pretending not too, because she changed the subject, "Is that Sirius and Remus? Why didn't they go up to the common room with everyone else?"
Lily looked past Rain too the Gryffindor table, where James, Sirius, Remus, and the chubby boy the blond girl had been talking about earlier sat. "Remus!"
Sirius looked up as Remus waved them over. Rain plopped down next too James, while Lily sat sideways next too her. " 'Ello laddies, why aren't you up in the common room?"
All the boys flintched, "We-er- decided that we don't need to follow the crowd, cause, er-" The boy, James said.
"-Our incredible hotness will guide the way." Sirius finished his story.
Lily snorted unladylikely, "Just be honest, and say you didn't notice them leave."
The chubby boy whispered accusingly, "Girls, there always..."
"Hey, I resent that!" Rain injected, letting her head rest on her hand. "I'm tired and sleepy!"
Remus glanced at her, drowsily pointing out, "Those two adjectives mean the same thing."
"I couldn't just say I was tired! That's not enough to complain about."
"Right. Anyway, Lets go find the common room." Remus reached over the table to steady Lily, who was so tired she was swaying slightly.
"How?" While they were talking, the hall had emptied out around them, the only other occupants were some older Hufflepuffs.
"Didn't I already tell you?" Sirius said, leaning around James. "My incredible hotness will guide the way."
Despite Lily's protests, the group moved out into the entrance hall. Sirius paused for a moment, contemplating his choices, before leading them up to the marble stair case. They entered a hallway filled with moving paintings. He lead them down it, and under a curtain, into another hallway.
"So, where do you live?" James asked Lily, walking a little slower so they fell behind the rest of the group.
Lily shot him a glare, too tired to be confused. She retorted with a two word answer, "Spinners End."
Ahead of them, Remus was trying to convince Sirius, who was wondering in god-knows what direction. "We should mark our path, so we can go back the way we came."
Grudgingly, Sirius borrowed a quill from Remus, scrawling a tiny shape at eye level. "A paw print? Why a paw print?" Rain asked him.
Sirius shrugged and launched into a story about a fourtion teller who'd had told him he had the soul of a dog, while behind them, James was still confidently talking to Lily. "I was just wondering, if you'd like to go out with me?"
"What?" Lily yelped. "I barely know you!" And she'd thought he was a nice guy?
Lily sped up to join Rain, who was laughing about a joke Sirius had just made. James chest deflated a bit, watching the pretty redhead, he already had a crush on, not spare him a second glance. He stayed behind them for a while, until something fragile smashed into his head, and black liquid dripped down his chin. The group in front of him, hearing the shattering noise, spun to find a wide-eyed James with his wand pointed straight into a face off with thin air.
There was a tiny pop, and a ghost with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in mid air, juggling several pots of ink. Lily ducked as a inkpot flew toward her, only to smash into a painting of a fat woman in a pink dress.
The fat women in the painting woke with a start to glare down at them. "If you think vandalizing my painting will help you get into the common ro-"
The ghosts high pitched giggling drowned her out. "Firsties, dursties! Lets have some fun!"
As the ghost threw a pot at Sirius, who grabbed Rain by her robes and practically dragged her down the hall in a run. After a moment of hesitation and two inkpots, the rest of the group bolted to catch up with them. They raced in circles around the seventh floor, most of them imagining the nice warm beds they could be sleeping in. In a few minutes, the chubby boy in their group-Did he say his name was Peter?-fell behind and disappeared. Finally, when they turned a sudden corner and were out of sight of the gleefully humming ghost. Sirius, who was still leading the way, threw open a door, practically shoving them all in side, before slamming it shut behind them.
"Sirius, what-?" Lily started to ask, shoving a suddenly happy James off of her. She cut off though, as Sirius gestured for her to be silent. They were all breathing hard, but tried to hold their breath as a raging Ghost flew down the hallway outside. The door would had flown open is Sirius hadn't hurriedly fumbled a spell to seal the door. After a brief silence, in which Sirius had his ear pressed against the door, he gesture that it should be alright to talk.
"This is the second time tonight that I've gotten soaked." Rain spoke first, holding up her drenched robes, everyone had gotten hit with a least one pot of ink.
"What? Oh, thats right. Why did you all arrive in the hall soaking wet?" James asked her.
"Your so lucky that you have black hair!" Lily moaned, holding up speckled red strands of her bright hair. Rain ignored James's question and started to towel off Lily's hair with a dry part of her robe.
Remus was frowning around the room, now that they weren't in peril of recovering, they all looked around. The room was painted a dark maroon with swirls of gold and silver designs. It was filled with bookshelves stuffed with books and interestingly colored boxes. Cushy, old, white armchairs surrounded a merry fire. A silver, rail less, circular staircase led up to a domed room, which ceiling was made entirely of glass, a stargazing room.
Abandoning Rain's fruitless attempts of cleaning her hair, Lily wondered over to the the bookshelves filled with boxes. She examined one, and then held it up for them to see. "These are muggle board games!" The box she held was covered in rainbows and read 'CANDY LAND' in big bubble letters.
"Board games?" James drifted over to her, seeking more to just be near her than actual curiosity.
Sirius flopped down in an armchair, rubbing a hand through his wet hair, as he tried in vain to get it out of his face. Remus settled himself on a love seat, staring into the flames, while listening dimly to Lily. Rain wondered past them all to sit drowsily on a silver step and stare up at the glittering stars her position reviled. They stayed that way until there had been a long silence since the last time the infuriated ghost had raced past their room.
Sirius dusted himself off and wrung out his ink stained hair before he stood up and crossed over to the door, everyone quieted, waiting to see if the ghost would come through when he opened it. He grasped the handle firmly in one tan hand, "As much as I enjoy all of your company, I really think we should all go to b-" Sirius turned the door handle again, this time bracing his foot against the frame of the door and pulling with all his might. He returned to his chair calmly and said unemotionally, "Never mind. I think we'll be together for a while longer. Apparently, the door is locked."
"Are you serious?" Lily walked over to the door, muttering spells under her breath, tapping it with her wand, and turning the handle frequently. James gave up the chase, making his way over to the circle of armchairs, Rain got up and followed him, sitting with her knees to her chest next to Remus.
"Darling," Sirius drawled, "I'm always serious."
The pun got mixed reactions from everyone, laughs, glares, and in one case, a furious blush. After about an fifteen minuets of fiddling, Lily gave up and joined them, claiming the only seat left, which unfortunately was a love seat with James.
"Okay," Rain stretched out her arms, shifting to get more comfortable. "What do we do now?"
"We wait." Sirius said simply, watching the fire.
"What, is complete silence? Lily said this room has boar games." She said, looking incredulous.
"Board games." Lily corrected.
"Well we could, sure." Sirius pondered their choices. No one had any inclination to move though, everyone was tired and Lily was resting her head on her chin, almost asleep.
Out of boredom, or because James just really wanted to start a conversation with Lily, no one was quite sure, but he turned to her. "Lily, what are you most afraid of?"
Lily started, then wrapped her arms around herself, glaring at him. "Why, going to try to black mail me?"
"No, I'm was just wondering." He blushed.
"Whats your worst fear then?" Lily asked.
James turned away and mumble, just loud enough for them to barely hear. "Bees."
"Bees?" Lily asked, not sure if she'd heard him right.
James paled, like just hearing the word was fearful. "There big! and they buzz really loud, and they fly around your head in big circles, taunting you! Did you know their guts are attached to their stingers? when they sting you, their guts get ripped out and thats why they die!"
"That was way more information than I needed to hear." Her eyes had grown very wide.
"Yeah, well...now its your turn!" James grumbled, apparently a little embarrassed at his outburst.
Lily hugged herself tighter and stared into the fire, she spoke quietly, but clearly. "I'm afraid of drowning."
"Oh." Sirius scratched his chin sheepishly, remembering the nights events. "Sorry, about, you know..."
"Its okay." The way she said it contradicted her words, it was clearly not okay.
Everyone wanted to get away from the awkward silence that followed Lily's confession. Remus was rummaging in the pit between the couch cushions, he pulled out a hardcover book, rubbing his back. "Ouch, guess what was stabbing me?"
Sirius was across the floor in a few excited bounds. "Its Qudditch Through the Ages!"
___________________________________________________________________
"Ahem." Sirius woke with a start, to find himself draped over a table covered in tiny Quidditch figures, and a goalpost digging into his side. Next too him Rain had her head pillowed on his stomach, her hand dangled off the table to rest on someone's foot, where Remus and James lay sprawled under the table in a heaping twist of limbs and more Qudditch pieces. Lily was the only one not too have joined there warm pileup, she had her legs curled up under her on a cushy chair not far away, a thin stream of drool slid out of her mouth.
"Ahem." Sirius heard the noise that had woken him up again, he propped his head up groggily, and turned to find the women who had given them instructions during their house-sorting ceremony, posed in the door. Her face was doing an almost perfect impression of an angry storm cloud, behind her were two worried looking girls and Peter.
"Why," The women asked, "Are half my first year students not sleeping in their beds?"
Sirius started too pull himself up, if he was going to explain, it'd be better if the others didn't have to wake up before they absolutely had too. He'd forgotten that Rain's head was on his stomach though, and the sudden movement woke her. She shot up, she'd barley fit on the table as it was, but the sudden move send her tumbling off the table onto James. James gave a startled squawk and jumped, which woke up Remus , Lily hearing the commotion, wasn't far behind. Sirius, helplessly holding the scruff of Rain's shirt, which he'd grabbed when she fell, was reminded of perfectly executed dommonos.
"Uh, we can explain." Sirius offered feebly, pulling a plastic seeker out of his hair. "We-er-were trying to find our way to the common room, but we got delayed, by a...ghost." The truth seemed more like he was making up a lie on the spot.
"A ghost?" The Women asked mildly, looking like she didn't believe a word he'd said.
"Yes, he chased us into this room, and we fell asleep waiting for him to leave."
"Then who locked the door with a luchios charm?" Her eyes raked over their group, pausing on Rain, the only one with a visible wand. "Was it you?"
Rain shared a glace with Sirius, who was looking slightly lonely. She wasn't going to let him go to detention alone. "Yes." She fibbed hesitantly, shooting Sirius a look that said 'You'd better pay me back for this!' "I preformed the lock charm, but I didn't know how too undo it, so we got stuck."
There was a short silence, as Remus helped Rain and James to their feet. James asked "How did you find us?"
The women had a way of making them feel ashamed, when they hadn't done anything wrong. She leveled whatever courage James had built up to ask his question with one well placed glare. " Miss. Young informed me that her room was half empty. When we searched the boys dorm, we found Mr. Pettigrew sleeping alone in his room." Everyone glared at Peter, he was sleeping? Sleeping? While the rest of them waited for rescue?
"Miss. Young, Miss. Rose, Mr. Pettigrew, Thank you for your help, now if you could please return to your beds." The women said it so dismissively that the students crowded around the door couldn't possibly refuse. Hearing 'Miss. Young's' name, Lily and Rain realized that the girl was Alice, from the talk they had at dinner. As the three reluctantly returned to their beds, the women turned back to the rooms occupants. "I think its time we all returned to our beds. Follow me."
The group tightened together, Lily joining them from across the room. Outside the door was a strange painting of trolls in pink tutus, the women led us down two corridors and too a painting with a fat women in a pink dress, she was wiping ink off her skirts when they came up too her. "Password?" She asked sharply.
"Dilligrout!" the strict women said quietly, and with a huff, the painting swung open to reveal a hole in the wall. She impatiently gestured them through, then followed behind them. Past the hole was a huge circular room, filled with squishy armchairs and tables, a fire crackled cheerily in its grate, the flames a bright orange. The women briskly led them over to two large staircases, leading upward. "If you've already forgotten, I am Professor MoGonagall , the head of your house. If you get up to any more trouble, I will give you detention." She pointed to the stairs, "Boys on the left, girls on the right, doors labeled 'First years room two'." She glared at them. "Now off to bed, I'll be back in ten minuets and if you five aren't in your beds..." Her voice trailed off as she climbed back through the portrait hole
"Did you here that? It was our first warning!" Lily glared at the boys as if it were their fault. "If any of you get me dragged into detention in my first week, I'll...I'll hex you to Christmas myself!" She stomped up the stairs and out of sight.
Rain grimaced and rubbed her back, sore from sleeping somewhere hard, she yawned loudly.
"What she said!" James gestured to Rain and started up the stairs.
"Good-night!" Rain yelled at Jame's disappearing back, as he turned the corner. Someone from a room labeled 'Prefects' threw a pillow out their door, in reply to her yell, it missed her by inches.
"Jeez, your already making us unpopular in the dorms." Sirius said, shoving her playfully.
"Don't worry, I think that you guys will be able to make yourselves plenty unpopular by the end of tomorrow, or is it today? What time is it?" Rain yawned again, not expecting an answer, she started for her stairs, "Good night, Remus. Good night, Sirius."
"Good night!" They chorused.