Disclaimer: It is so not mine. Obviously.

Chapter 15: Second Year Begins

The summer before second year was a long one for Jenna and Lily, as well as the rest of the Marauders. They had fallen in love with Hogwarts, and horrible as it may sound, they would rather be there than with their families, especially Lily. Sirius spent most of his time at James' house, so he didn't have to deal with his family much.

Jenna was delighted to see Lena again. The now seven year old was even more excited to follow in her beloved older sister's footsteps, thanks to weekly letters from Jenna, telling her about the school and all the magic she was learning. The two sisters renewed their bond and were nearly inseparable during the summer.

Lena was the best part of Jenna's summer. Renae was just as disgusted with Jenna's magic as she had at the beginning, and her parents, though proud of her abilities, didn't understand her very well. The result was that they were rather distant from their second daughter.

Jenna and Lily kept in touch with nearly constant letters. Lily's parents were quite fascinated by the magical world and asked Lily constant questions. Lily got very annoyed by that very quickly. Her sister, Petunia, was just as bad as Renae, if not worse. It was suggested more than once that the two older sisters should be sent off somewhere very far away together.

Jenna wrote to the boys as well. Lily wrote to Remus and Sirius, but didn't write to James much at all. The five of them got together at James' mansion several times, mostly to escape their families.

Sirius' summer wasn't exactly fun, either. He spent most of his time at James', as his family, especially his mother, refused to accept that not only was her son not in Slytherin, but was, in fact, a Gryffindor.

Remus tried to escape his parents as much as possible as well, since they had become overprotective of him and felt guilty that they hadn't wanted him home for Christmas. His "furry little problem," as James had taken to calling his lycanthropy, just made his summer that much worse.

The Potter mansion became the haven for the group. His parents were very kind, though Mr. Potter was often at work. Mrs. Potter always made sure they had wonderful snacks and didn't mind that they often spent hours in the field behind the house, playing Quidditch, or in Jenna's case, practicing flying and trying very hard not to fall off the broom stick.

At the end of July, the letters for the second year came. It was decided that they would meet at the Leaky Cauldron the next day. James' mother gave the girls driving instructions, while Sirius went on and on in the background about how dangerous Muggle travel was.

Despite the dangers apparent in the road system, both girls arrived in one piece to meet three slightly sooty boys and Mrs. Potter, who was supervising the trip. Greetings were exchanged, which resulted in Sirius knocking Lily into the unlit fireplace, adding one more sooty member to the group.

Mrs. Potter ushered them all out to the back of "that stinky, smoky, horrible place," and led them through the brick archway that appeared as she tapped the appropriate block with her wand.

Gringotts was the first stop, of course. Jenna finally got to ride one of those "infernal carts," as Professor McGonagall had called then the year before. In fact, all six members of the party, plus a goblin, crammed into one cart.

The ride was as thrilling, just as Jenna had anticipated last year, with the added bonus of getting to watch Sirius' face to steadily turn more and more green, until it rivaled Lily's eyes, thanks to the large amount of sweets he and James had eaten already that morning. James, on the other hand, seemed to be made of much tougher stuff, and looked delighted at the prospect of poking fun at his best friend that he couldn't stomach even a simple ride down to the under ground vaults. Mrs. Potter didn't look too thrilled with the ride, either.

However, Sirius managed somehow to keep his stomach in place, and the ride back up to ground level was uneventful. He recovered as soon as he set foot on firm ground once more and joined James in cajoling Mrs. Potter to allow the Marauders to go off and do their own shopping.

"Please, Mum, could we please go?" James knew his mother well enough that he could take advantage of her weakened state, thanks to the wild ride under the bank.

"Well-" Even with her wits scattered by the cart ride, Mrs. Potter's mothering instincts were still strong enough that she was hesitant.

"Please? We'll stick together. And Jenna won't let us do anything illegal or anything." Sirius joined in.

"Well… I suppose. I would like to sit down for a few minutes. Meet me at Fortenesque's at three o'clock. Be safe; use your brains; and no more sweets, James and Sirius!"

"Okay! Thanks! See you then!" The five ran off before Mrs. Potter could give any more restrictions.

"So! What first?" Lily asked, excited to be out of her house and back in the wizarding world. She linked arms with Jenna and Sirius, who grabbed James. Remus took Jenna's free arm. Thus linked, they took up almost the entire street.

"Well, let's start as the apothecary." James named the shop farthest down the street. The chain broke only once the entire way, when Jenna tripped over the curb.

Upon entering the dim, musty shop, the five were forced to release each other, due to the narrow confines of the small room. Replenishing potions supplies was accomplished fairly quickly, as neither Sirius nor Lily had used much of theirs.

Once finished at the apothecary, they could no longer link arms, due to the shopping bags now carried, and the other shoppers were spared the difficulty of trying to circumnavigate the chain of five youngsters.

The majority of the trip was accomplished without problems, and the Marauders finished at Flourish and Bott's. Once the necessary school books were purchased, Lily and Sirius stood waiting impatiently as their more bookwormish friends browsed the bookstore. For a few minutes, anyway. Lily heaved a great sigh.

"Do you really need so many books?"

Jenna just looked at her.

"Okay, maybe you do. Me 'n' Sirius are going to get ice cream."

"Sirius and I," Jenna mumbled, already lost again in her book.

The two quickly vacated the bookstore, in search of relief for their stomachs and their boredom. They went next door, to Fortenesque's to wait for the other three and Mrs. Potter.

"They can be really boring sometimes," Lily complained, sitting down with her chocolate strawberry ice cream cone.

"They read too much," Sirius agreed. He was a bit more daring in his ice cream choice. It was called "Dragon's Blood," and was a rather sickly green color- quite similar to the shade his face had been earlier in the day.

"Hmm… I think they need to be shown the error of their ways." Lily grinned, slightly mischievously.

There was nothing slight about Sirius' look. "I think they'd look simply smashing with green hair."

"I agree. With a few orange spots?" Despite the gleam in their eyes, Lily and Sirius kept their tone of voice perfectly mild and innocent.

"And I know just the spell…"

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And that explained, why, at the welcome feast, Jenna, James and Remus all had fluorescent hair. While opening their books during a rare quiet moment on the train, all three had been given bright green and orange hair. Lily and Sirius considered it their biggest success to date.

James made the most of it, spiking his hair and strutting into the Great Hall like nobody's business, but Remus and Jenna were a little more recalcitrant about their new look. But after a few minutes, joined by the pranksters and the rest of the school in laughing at James, and then themselves, they saw the sheer hilarity of the prank. And Sirius assured them that it would wear off by morning, which comforted Jenna that she would not always have glow in the dark hair.

After the feast, the newly made second years made their way up to the old familiar Gryffindor tower and collapsed into their respective beds.

"I sure am glad to be back," Jenna whispered to Lily. "Despite your little prank."

"So am I. Except for James, the great prat," she answered. "He wasn't supposed to enjoy it."

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Yes! I am so proud of myself!! Two in one day! And Happy Halloween to all y'all out there!