ALRIGHTY! :D It's time for the "official" first chapter of this story! ^.^ Thank you again to all of you who are reading and reviewing. BondSlave and I are still hard at work on this story, and write new parts almost every day. We really appreciate all of your support and kind words ^.^
This chapter is kind of shorter, but it's one of the first instances BondSlave and I talked about putting in this story. Granted, we came up with this (and many more ideas) between the hours of two and five am, but they're still valid and incredibly funny! ...Well, to us xD We hope you find them funny as well ^.^
Enjoy! Thank you again, everyone!
P.S.: MEGAN OMIGOSH YOU'RE READING THIS kghgfsijfaksf I LOVE YOU.
okayi'mdoneyoucanreadnow :)
-I. Ever-Changing-
In which the Marauders go hunting.
Alisha walked cheerfully along the corridor, humming an odd little tune to herself, her destination unimportant. She nodded and waved at people she passed, and they did the same. Despite being anti-social, the few people who had managed to spend more than ten minutes with her liked her, making her popular amongst the outcasts and underdogs at the school, which was fine by her. Sometimes they would ask her why she bothered acknowledging them, and when she asked why she wouldn't, it always came down to the same thing: You hang out with Potter's gang.
Ah, yes. That. Despite being a Slytherin, the gang had included her into the group. She was sure that, with James and Sirius, it was more guilt over what had happened between them all. Remus included her because she was friends with Kelsey, and Peter was simply too scared of her to object. She would always give the same response: I'm not one of them. I don't want to be popular. This is where I belong.
It had been a long year since that night—the night she, Kelsey, and Severus had discovered that Remus was a werewolf. All because of a stupid prank gone wrong, orchestrated by Sirius. It had taken a while for all the wounds to heal and some still seeped, but, mostly, things had gone back to normal and they'd all grown pretty close. Save for Severus. He was as distant and anti-social as ever, which really bothered Alisha.
;;
Remus paced the mostly empty dorm, nibbling on a fingernail. Sirius and James watched him, sitting on their respective beds with somewhat bored yet curious expressions. Peter was nowhere to be found.
"Remus, will you calm down, mate?" Sirius asked.
"I can't calm down! I haven't been able to since King's Cross," he said as he continued to pace.
"That was three weeks ago!"
James rolled his eyes at Remus' exasperation. What would the playboy understand about this situation? "Relax, mate. Staying so anxious won't help anything. It will just make you jumpy and nervous, and we get enough of that a week before the…you know what."
Remus shot the glasses-wearing boy a glare that could have killed before it melted away to be replaced by the anxiety once again. "Its just… I didn't even know I felt like this."
"Felt like what?" Sirius asked.
Remus walked to his bed and flopped down on his back. "Felt this way about Kelsey."
Silence descended upon the dorm room before Sirius exploded with laughter and James tried to restrain his giggles. Remus' eyes narrowed at the ceiling.
"You like Kelsey? Really? Wow, this is too priceless," James said before Sirius joined him on his bed.
"Our little Remie is growing up so fast!" Sirius said in a mock-choked voice.
Remus grabbed his pillow and chucked it at the other two. "Oh, shut up! I should have known better than to tell you two."
James sat up and tossed the pillow back on Remus' bed before joining him. "Now, now, all joking aside. The fact that you like Kelsey is actually pretty cool. She seems to be a nice enough girl and she seems trustworthy. If you like her, then go for it."
"That's the problem," Remus said. "I don't know if she likes me like that. I don't know anything about her. She's a mystery. I can't read her at all. I know that little streak of hers shows off her feelings and emotions, but I can't read her any better."
Sirius, who'd been listening from James' bed, got a mischievous little twinkle in his eye before jumping up. "Come on!"
Remus blinked, as did James. "Where are we going?"
"We are going to hunt Edwards!" he called as he bounded out of the dorm.
James and Remus shared a glance before following.
;;;;;
Kelsey hummed quietly to herself as she walked out a door and into one of the outdoor corridors, holding a book, notebook, and pencil under her arm. A couple Gryffindor girls passed, waving and saying, "Hi." Kelsey smiled and waved back. She could place the girls' faces, but couldn't for the life of her think of their names. She was terrible with names, especially if the meeting with the person was fleeting and she didn't have a chance to hear their name spoken more than once. This had been happening more and more often in the past year—ever since she and Alisha had started hanging out with Marauders. The Marauders didn't seem to mind that she was a Ravenclaw, but she sensed some disapproval of Alisha's status as a Slytherin—mostly from James and Sirius. (Remus didn't seem to mind at all.) But Kelsey had put her foot down, and was prepared to tell them that they'd just have to deal with it if they decided to start complaining.
She set her things down on the short wall of the corridor, then hoisted herself up onto it. She scooted herself closer to the pillar behind her, leaning against it. She then picked up her book and flipped to the bookmark she'd placed inside it. She took the bookmark out, holding it in her right hand against the back of the book, and started reading.
Granted, Kelsey was distracted by her book, but, even if she hadn't been, she surely wouldn't have noticed the three pairs of eyes watching her as she read. She was just that oblivious.
;;
Remus sighed, running a hand through his hair. He wondered how he'd let himself get dragged into this plan of Sirius'. Then he remembered, Oh, yeah...
James and Sirius were crouched next to him on the grass, and they peeked out of the bush they were hiding in and at the girl sitting on the other side of the corridor. Yes. The bush. Hey, it was Sirius' idea, after all.
Sirius held a small notebook and pencil in his hand, ready to make note of their observations. Remus suddenly felt like they were watching some rare bird, not an actual person.
"What's she doing?" Sirius whispered.
"She's reading," James answered. "Her streak is sort of...green-ish."
Silence for a moment.
"Yeah, I got nothing," Sirius said.
"Oh, wait," James said. "Now some other Ravenclaw girl's walked up."
"Color?" Sirius asked.
James waited for a moment. "It's...turning red."
Sirius looked up, thinking. "Doesn't red usually mean, like...love?"
James popped his head up out of the bush, leaves and twigs sticking in his dark hair. "She swings that way? !"
Remus reached a hand up and grabbed onto James' collar, yanking him back down into the bush as Kelsey and the other Ravenclaw snapped their heads up and looked around at the shout.
"Did you hear something?" Kelsey asked.
"I thought I did," the other girl said.
The two shrugged and went back to their conversation.
Remus hit James in the back of the head, giving him a look and trying not to look flustered. "Shut up!" he hissed. "Red means she's getting angry, dumbass! Can't you tell how fake her smile looks? !" But, inside, he was thinking, Please don't let James be right!
Sirius' brow furrowed at his notebook. "'Swings that way'...?" He shook his head. "Never mind. The girl's left now."
"Right," James said, turning his attention back to Kelsey and rubbing the slow-forming bump on his head. "Now she's...talking to some guy."
Remus snapped his head up and shoved himself to the front of the bush. "What? What guy?" he asked frantically.
The three looked at the fellow fourth-year talking to Kelsey. Her streak was fading from red to black.
"Oh, it's a Hufflepuff," Remus said, sounding a little relieved as he frowned. Never mind...
After the Hufflepuff boy left, Kelsey's streak returned to its lighter green color. A few minutes later, she hopped down off the wall, gathered up her things, and started walking away.
"Target is in motion!" James whispered.
"What now?" Sirius asked.
James thought for a moment. "Keep calm, gents. I've got an idea."
;;
Kelsey casually strolled through the rows and rows of shelves in the library, blue-green eyes alight with joy at the sight of all the books. Her streak turned a cool blue as she roamed the library, not knowing that she was still being watched.
;;
Remus sighed heavily, casting a sideways look at his fellow Marauders on the ground next to him. James' "idea" had been to take the bush with them, which was where James and Sirius were still hiding. Remus, knowing that was a stupid idea, chose to hide behind a gigantic encyclopedia on plants instead.
"You guys are morons," Remus said quietly.
"You're not any less conspicuous, mate," James shot back.
They all froze and fell silent when they saw Kelsey coming towards them. She was looking over the titles of a couple books she'd picked up, and paused when she saw the bush on the floor. She tilted her head, her streak turning a pale pink. (The boy hiding behind the big book didn't escape her sight either.) She thought for a moment, then shrugged. Oh well, she thought. This is Hogwarts. And she checked out her books and left the library.
"Damn, she's left again," James said. "Now we've gotta move this stupid thing back outside."
Remus sighed heavily, and was tempted to throw the encyclopedia at James and Sirius and just leave. But...still, he couldn't help but admit that he was curious. Sometimes, there seemed to be no pattern to the changes in her hair. Then he wondered if perhaps he was focusing too much on the changing colors of her hair instead of the actual look in her eyes and on her face. It was a theory he would have to look into.
;;;;;
Alisha exited the school and wandered outside, where it only took her a few moments to locate Kelsey and join her. No one really knew how she could find the other girl so quickly—some said she was a stalker—but the truth behind it was that Kelsey was just that predictable.
She sat down on one of the large stone railings that separated the outdoors corridor and the rest of the grounds. "Hey there," she said.
The other girl looked up from her book and smiled. "Hey." Her smiled faded and she gave the other girl an odd expression. "I saw the strangest thing today."
"Oh?"
Kelsey looked back to her book. "Yeah, there were some bushes in the library. Strange, huh?"
"Bushes?" Alisha asked, face hardening as she shot a glare to the bushes poking out from around the corner, which quickly retreated. She slid off of the railing and walked down the corridor.
"Alisha?"
She didn't reply and rounded the corner.
Kelsey blinked curiously, looking after her friend, who had rounded the corner and vanished out of sight. Had she said something?
"YOU IDIOTS!" yelled Alisha from around the corner, followed by the sound of a spell cracking from her wand.
Kelsey paled and blinked her wide blue eyes as the other girl rounded the corner again, tucking her wand back into her robes. Kelsey continued to stare at her friend as she regained her place on the railing, a disapproving look on her face. "W-why'd you beat up the bush?"
"Never mind, Kelsey. It was a pervy bush."
Kelsey didn't reply for a moment, then perked up in mock horror, "Claude was in the bush? !"
Alisha grinned and pointed enthusiastically. "Yes!"
Both girls fell into a fit of giggles.
;;
Remus, who had been somewhat paralyzed by Alisha's hex, lay on his back, looking up through the bush to the celing while James and Sirius groaned on the floor beside him. His brows furrowed as he listened to the girls. "Claude? Who's Claude?" he asked before looking over at the other two. "None of us are Claude…unless one of you is called that?"
Both shook their heads as they sat up.
Sirius rubbed his head, grimacing. Alisha may not have been the smartest or most powerful witch in Hogwarts, but she could pack a wallop. "Isn't there a Claude in Hufflepuff?"
Remus's eyes widened. "Damn IT!" he snapped as he rolled away and out of the bush.
James and Sirius watched him and thought, Does he intend to roll all the way to the Hufflepuff common room?
;;;;;
It seemed that that was exactly what Remus intended to do, and he made it all the way to the painting that made up the door to the Hufflepuff common room. By that time, the effects of Alisha's hex had (mostly) worn off, and he was able stand on his feet.
A Hufflepuff first-year came along and spoke the password to the painting, and the frame swung back like a big door. Without a second thought, Remus leaped through the door and ran past the first-year into the common room.
"Alright," he said, his voice strong and demanding. "Which one of you here is Claude?"
Silence for a moment, then every eye in the place turned to look at a certain boy sitting in the corner doing homework. Remus looked the boy up and down, taking in his small frame, thin arms and legs, messy mass of black hair, and square glasses on his nose.
Remus turned away. "Sorry. Never mind." He headed back out of the common room and into the hall.
James and Sirius ran up then. "So what happened?" Sirius asked.
"Did you knock his head off?" James asked, always hoping that there'd be a fight.
Remus shook his head and breathed a sigh of relief. "Claude is some little first-year who couldn't even win a fight against a pixie."
James nodded. "Then I guess you've got nothing to worry about."
Remus smiled and nodded, secure in the fact that Claude wouldn't be a problem for him.
Sirius thought for a moment as Remus and James walked away from the Hufflepuff common room. "Unless Edwards is a pedo."
Remus and James froze in mid-step and turned to look at their friend. Remus stared at him with wide eyes.
James shook his head. "Oh, come on, Sirius! Of course she isn't! You've actually gone mad now."
"Hey, I'm just putting it out there..." Sirius said as he fell into step beside beside James.
Remus stood still for a moment, then jogged to catch up with his friends. "Sirius! You were joking, right? Sirius! Hey! Answer me! Get back here and tell me you were joking! SIRIUS!"
So, the whole joke about Claude... For those of you who have seen the anime Black Butler (particularly the second season), Alisha and Kelsey were referring to the demon butler named Claude, who becomes something of a rival to Sebastian in the second season. He takes the form of a spider, which will be cause for later puns in the story. But, yes, so that's Claude! Not a little wimpy Hufflepuff necessarily, but a pervy demon butler! XD
Also, check out my/the UnderdogAngel tumblr to see fanart from this chapter (and more for this story)!
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! ^.^ More coming soon!