Disclaimer: As always, not mine! ^^
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Life settled into a day to day routine. The four boys who'd been sorted into Gryffindor became fast friends, with James and Sirius being the ringleaders and Peter and Remus tending to hang back. They seemed to take pleasure in pulling pranks on anyone they came across, but Dorcas noticed that they were particularly hard on Severus Snape. Lily would often admonish them and tell them to stop, but more than once, there were incidents that landed someone in the Hospital Wing. Dorcas and Hestia spent much of their time together, whether they were talking about Quidditch or the newest article in Witch Weekly. The girls were all good friends, but Lily spent much of her time with either Severus or Mary, and neither Lily nor Mary seemed to share the same upbeat, rambunctious personalities that Dorcas and Hestia possessed. But all in all, it was a good year for them.
Nothing terribly out of the ordinary happened, though Dorcas had earned herself a few detentions for walking around at night with Hestia when neither of them had been able to sleep. Before they even knew it, they had taken their final exams and were packing up their things for the summer holidays. Dorcas was bent over her trunk, rummaging around for a pair of jeans that she wanted to wear. Afterall, she didn't want to be in her uniform skirt and heavy black robes if she could help it. She turned around to ask Hestia if she'd seen them when said jeans hit her in the face.
"Oy, I should've known you had these!" Dorcas said, laughing and tossing a pillow in Hestia's direction.
The other girl easily swatted it away and grinned. "Well, you know, you said I could borrow them a few weeks back and I never got around to returning them," Hestia replied.
The two girls finished packing their trunks soon enough and then headed down to the Entrance Hall together, leaving their trunks with the pile by the huge oak doors. A few students were hanging around, but many had already begun to file down to Hogsmeade to get seats on the train. Dorcas and Hestia decided that they'd meet up with the others on the train and headed outside, into the warm summer air. Up ahead they saw the boys and looked at each other before sprinting to catch up. Hestia was able to slow down enough so that she only had to grab onto James to steady herself. Dorcas, on the other hand, kept going, crashing into Sirius, sending them both to the ground.
"Sorry, Sirius!" Dorcas apologized, gasping.
"It's alright," he said, smirking, but looking at her oddly. Dorcas looked at him too, and they both broke out laughing a second later.
After successfully disentangling themselves while the others waited, they all walked down together. Though, at some point, Hestia had hopped onto Dorcas's back and the two laughed as the much smaller Dorcas carried Hestia nearly the rest of the way to the platform. In good time they made it to the train and boarded, finding a compartment to sit in. There were 6 of them though, so they had to squeeze a bit. James and Peter sat closest to the window, on opposite sides, then came Sirius and Hestia, and then Finally Remus and Dorcas. They all talked excitedly about the summer holidays, talking about what they'd do and how they hoped they'd all be able to visit, or at least go to Diagon Alley together at the end of the summer.
The train ride passed all too quickly for them, but hours later, they were finally at King's Cross again. Filing off the train altogether, they stood on the platform for a moment before Dorcas and Hestia hugged each of the boys in turn, Peter blushing furiously when he was hugged. The Dorcas and Hestia hugged each other tightly for a few moments, pulling away and promising to write. After a moment, Dorcas found her trunk and somehow located her mother as well, giving her a tight hug before pulling away and smiling. She walked with her mother to the alley where they'd apparated before, chatting the whole way about her friends and all the things she'd learned at school.
Summer passed in a flurry of activity. The days were long and mostly sunny in Cornwall, so Dorcas invited Hestia over for a week and everyone else came up for a day or so, frolicking on the shore near Dorcas's home and just having fun in general. Soon enough, September 1st was upon them and Dorcas was kissing her mother goodbye again as she boarded the train with her friends. Early on in the fall, James, Sirius, Dorcas and Hestia tried out for the Quidditch team. However, there was only one Chaser spot and one Beater spot available, and James and Sirius got them, respectively. Dorcas and Hestia shrugged it off, promising to be back the next year.
Nothing eventful happened the rest of the year, though some of the young Gryffindors began to notice that Remus Lupin disappeared once a month. It was around this time that he began looking pale and sickly, though at the same time, he also became a bit more irritable, snapping at his friends on occasion. Though, he claimed that his mother was sick, and so they tried to be considerate of him, knowing it must be taking a toll on him.
Third year was upon them in no time. This year, Hestia and Dorcas did make the Quidditch team, helping Gryffindor to a few victories fairly early on. But, Christmas was fast approaching. They had all decided that they might like to stay at the castle this year, seeing as they would have it mainly to themselves. It was snowing quite heavily outside, and the Gryffindors, minus Lily and Mary, took advantage of the opportunity, staging a snowball fight on the grounds. Lily had opted to spend more time with Severus, much to the boys' dismay, and Mary was off studying with a few of her Ravenclaw friends. Shrugging it off, the others were outside, enjoying the freshly fallen snow.
"Incoming!" James shouted, whipping a snowball towards Sirius.
"Hah! You'll have to do better than that, mate!" Sirius shouted, easily dodging it. He finished packing a snowball in his gloved hands and threw it at James, hitting him in the arm. Letting out a bark-like laugh, he dove out of the way as James whipped another one at him.
Dorcas and Hestia laughed at the boys antics. But, they weren't laughing long. Sirius tossed one at Hestia, hitting her in the stomach, and James threw one at Dorcas, narrowly missing her head.
"You know what this means…" Hestia said, brushing snow off her coat.
"WAR!" Dorcas shouted, ducking behind a snow drift and taking up some snow in her gloves, packing it together to form a ball.
James and Sirius quickly found their own snow drift to hide behind and Peter and Remus joined them a moment later. Dorcas stood just as Sirius did, whipping her snowball at him and hitting his shoulder.
"Hah!" she said, laughing gleefully, before she had to dodge Sirius's snowball.
She ducked back down, joining Hestia in making more snowballs. A moment later, Hestia peeked out, throwing a snowball at Peter. It his him square in the face and he fell with an "Oof!" Both girls giggled. James hit Dorcas with a few in quick succession and she huffed, tossing a couple back, one hitting James and another skimming the top of Remus's head. The fight continued for another fifteen minutes before the girls just gave up and decided to tackle the boys.
"White wash!" Hestia shouted, dragging James by the foot and piling as much snow as she could onto him. Dorcas helped her until Sirius grabbed her by the ankle, pulling her down as well. She smirked at him and got up, tossing some more snow on him.
Hestia then moved onto Remus, chasing him around until she was able to push him into a snow bank. At this, Dorcas focused on Peter, who barely put up a struggle as she half buried him in snow. Once the girls had finished, they laughed and high-fived one another, looking at the Gryffindor boys, who were glaring at them good-naturedly. It was Sirius who recovered first and began chasing them back to the castle. They screamed and laughed until they reached the doors.
Having to open them slowed the girls down a bit and they ran through the halls, which were decorated with ribbons and streamers and of course, mistletoe. Sirius was able to catch Hestia rather easily and he shoved snow down the back of her jacket. Dorcas merely ran faster, being the quickest of the group. However, James was gaining on her and he'd almost grabbed her when they both stopped abruptly. They each continued to jerk forward, but were held in place by some invisible force.
"I can't move!" James said, struggling against whatever was holding him there.
"Neither can I," Dorcas frowned, also struggling to move.
Sirius looked up and chuckled. "Looks like you two got yourselves caught under the enchanted mistletoe."
James and Dorcas both looked up, and sure enough, it was hanging there, pretending to be all innocent. They then looked at one another and each made a face.
"I can't kiss you!" they said, in unison.
"I think that's the only way to break free," chuckled Hestia.
The two thirteen-year-olds looked around at their friends. Hestia and Sirius looked positively gleeful. Peter was watching dumbly, and Remus was looking bemused. They looked back to each other and sighed. Well, there was no getting around this then. They each closed their eyes and leaned forward. Their lips brushed the slightest bit and then they each immediately jumped backward. Sirius laughed at their reactions and Dorcas and James both looked at one another for a moment before they both blushed furiously. Almost immediately, Hestia pulled Dorcas aside, moving them ahead of the boys. Behind them, the boys crowded James.
"So, what was it like?" Hestia asked, eyes alight.
Dorcas shrugged. "It wasn't…horrible or anything. I mean, I suppose it was good. But, I don't even think of James like that."
"Well, at least now you've had your first kiss!" Hestia said, grinning.
Dorcas had to grin at her excitement as well. "Yeah, I suppose I have then. At least it wasn't so bad."
They both looked over their shoulders at the same time, and seeing the boys watching them, giggled before turning back to each other and whispering again.
"What do you suppose they're talking about then?" Sirius asked, eyeing the girls in front of them.
"Honestly, Sirius, what do you think?" Remus asked, stuffing his hands in his pockets.
James and Sirius exchanged a look at their friend's somewhat testy response, but Sirius continued anyway.
"So, what was it like then?" he asked, smirking. Sirius had already had his fair share of kisses, but none with Dorcas.
"It wasn't bad, I suppose," James said, grinning a bit. "I mean, Dorcas is a pretty girl and all, but I don't really see her that way. I like redheads better."
Sirius and Peter snickered at this, but Remus remained silent, absently picking at a patch sewn onto the elbow of his jacket. They all made it back to Gryffindor tower and changed out of their wet and snow-covered clothes, reconvening in the common room a little while later. It was getting dark out now, and Sirius and James sat on the couch in front of the fire, getting into a discussion about whether or not the Chudley Cannons would ever win their league cup. Hestia lounged on a nearby armchair, happily joining in on their discussion. Remus sat himself on the carpet in front of the fire, working diligently on his Potions essay, which was due after break. Dorcas and Peter played wizard's chess nearby, with Dorcas beating Peter quite badly. Everything considered, it had been a good day for the Gryffindor Third Years. They remained in the common room until very late, taking advantage of everyone being gone; eventually, though, they grew tired and retired to their dorms after a long, eventful day.
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Note: So yes, another chapter! I'm trying to include Peter a bit more and make him part of the group instead of just some sniveling little idiot that tagged along. I mean, clearly, he'd still be a bit of a weak link, but I don't think he'd be as inept as people might think. In fact, I see him as being pretty normal up until the last few months of the war. Anywho, please read and review! Oh, and I do realize that I completely skipped their second year, but like I said, it only really gets interesting as they get older, so I decided that I could forego that. Hope no one's too upset! I've also been working on adding more dialogue. This is my first fic, afterall, so I'm still learning the ins and outs of everything. Whew, this was a looooong note! ^^