Chapter 8:

Later that night Remus approached me, looking preoccupied. He went on to tell me that the reaction I had seen on James Potter was a result of the continuous wrath of one Gwendolyn Hunter.

"They've known each other since they were babies. They're both from pure-blood families and were forced to spend most of their childhood together," he concluded, folding his hands in his lap. "You have to excuse him. He was being overdramatic."

I stared at him, still reeling from having my only girl friends accused of being… well… girls. Observant, that Potter boy was.

Remus and I had chatted our way up to the common room and were now sitting on a long couch facing each other. James had come in earlier and glared at me as he passed, made worse by the fact that Sirius had waved at us.

"Anyway," he continued, "We've talked and decided who's going to be tutoring you for which class." He sighed then. "Not without trouble, I might add. James refuses to come anywhere near you, but Sirius and I will bring him around. He can't avoid his punishment anyways."

He sat up straight and covered his mouth, like he did that morning while giving me the tour of the castle. "Not that tutoring you is a punishment!"

"It is for him," I grumbled, looking up at the door to the boys sleeping quarters that Sirius and his irritated friend had exited through only a few moments before.

"Yes," he replied, resigned. "Well, he's going to have to face it sooner or later. Now…" he brought a folded up piece of parchment from within his robes and handed it to me. "I've gone ahead and scheduled your tutoring during our off hours between classes. That way you still have your evenings to yourself."

I unfolded and looked down at the parchment – it was another copy of the first-year Gryffindor schedule with Remus' scrawl in between classes and during study hours.

"Defense with Potter, transfiguration with Sirius, charms with you, and potions with… you?"

"Yeah, well, we all decided that Peter really isn't up to snuff with any of his classes except Astronomy, and that class is more memorization than anything else."

"What about History of Magic? Herbology?"

"The same. You have your books, so you can study those on your own time. Ask any of us if you have questions. You can also look to the girls in your dorm – Evan's a wiz at Charms, and Prewett is pretty good at Herbology."

I folded the parchment and tucked it into my robes; I would look at it in more detail later. I still had one more day before my classes officially began, which meant I still had plenty of time to skim through my books.

"Thanks Remus, it means a lot." I said, standing up. I patted the schedule in my pocket. "I didn't expect it to be set up so quickly. I'll know better next time." I smiled at him and then turned and headed for the dorm. I was almost to the staircase when I heard Remus shift and call my name again, this time so softly I almost missed it. Turning back to face him, I took a step toward the couch and found him looking deeply into the fire.

"Go easy on James, okay?" He asked, without tearing his eyes away. "He just has a hot head where Hunter is concerned. Try to understand."

I didn't, but I nodded anyway, and then turned and escaped to my room, where Lily was studying and Ronnie was fast asleep, snoring. I climbed into bed and curled up under the blankets, but my mind would not stop whirling. I would not let James ruin what had become an easy truce between this reality and my own.

I woke up in the morning to a quiet room – the watch on Jeanne's nightstand claimed it was ten o'clock, so I assumed the girls had already gone down to breakfast and started their daily routine. There was rain gently splashing across the window next to my bed, and I propped myself up on my pillows and stared out the window for several minutes, taking in the sound and smell of the rain-soaked stone outside.

Finally I pried myself out of bed, shoving shoes on my feet and a brush through my hair. I grabbed a book from the top of the stack in my trunk (Standard Book of Spells Grade 1 by Miranda Goshawk) and left the cozyness of the dormitory for the crowded common room, snatching a couple scones from the tray Ronnie had left out the night before. Several people were warming themselves by the fire and complaining about the rain; I managed to sneak into a corner of the room without too many stares. I wasn't surprised that rumors about me seemed to have spread throughout the castle – several students seemed anxious to berate me with questions, but none ever gathered up the courage to come forward. Not that I would have answered anyway – I still had yet to formulate my background story. Some part of me still believed I wouldn't need it, that I would be going home without ever having to explain myself. Unfortunately, as I began to sift through the material in the spell-book, I found myself more and more transfixed with the magic that was this universe.

Eventually I pulled my wand out and tried a few simple spells on my own. Lumos… Reparo… they all worked after a little trial and error. I was about to attempt Wingardium Leviosa when the portrait opened and Sirius came blasting into the common room with James and Remus hot on his heels. They looked positively frightened, huddled in the least populated corner of the common room – right next to me.

"James, what did you do!" Remus wailed, his face white. Sirius simply stood there, wiping his forehead on his sleeve, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish. I could hear someone shouting in the corridor outside the common room, and as that someone got closer, the room steadily got more and more quiet until all was silent except for the boy's ragged breathing.

Someone started pounding violently on the portrait, begging to be let in. Being the closest, I was up and moving toward the portrait before I recognized the voice as Peter's. Suddenly a hand came out of nowhere, wrapped around my arm, and pulled me away from the portrait. I looked back to find Sirius shaking his head furiously. Then, a bang and a squeal echoed from outside, followed by several more loud cracks. Someone had raised their voice above the din of spells and Peter's begging pleas.

"Let. That. Teach. You. SCUM!" a male voice screamed. The noise continued for several moments, and I watched James' face as he stared at the portrait. He was scared, no doubt, but there was also relief. His wand was close to his chest, but pointed at the portrait as if he believed the attackers would chase him into the common room next. Then all at once it was quiet again, and the male continued. "You tell your friend Potter that it will be his arse the next time I see him. Understood?"

Peter must have understood (or looked to pitiful to play with anymore) because the raucous laughter of his tormenters died away and Peter's knocking on the portrait door returned again. This time Remus went to open the portrait for the poor boy, who came through with a massively swelled nose and a strip of hair missing from the left side of his head. His hands and face were bleeding profusely, and Remus took a moment to glare at James before he rushed Peter back out again, presumably to the hospital wing.

James began to laugh nervously as he took the chair I had occupied a moment before. Sirius still had his hand on my arm, and I shrugged it off and leaned against the table where my spell book and wand lay forgotten. Sirius found a semi-comfortable spot on the floor next to me and then looked up and glared at James.

"What did you do?" he asked quietly. I was certainly feeling uncomfortable by the stares I was receiving from all over the room. No one had returned to what they were doing – all eyes were trained on one of the three of us. James had yet to speak.

"Damnit James, what did you do?" Sirius bellowed, slamming his hand on the ground and clambering back to his feet. James had his eyes trained hard on his shoes and was still engrossed in very nervous laughter. Finally he looked up at Sirius.

"I… uh… well technically I didn't… hmm…" At this point he lifted his hand up to his forehead. "I may have bribed a Hufflepuff to make a Slytherin potion explode during class."

I stared at him, trying to make it obvious I didn't believe that Peter had been that thoroughly punished for a simple exploding potion. Sirius must have had the same look because James looked back at his shoes and continued.

"I didn't know… well… the potion may or may not have been a failed boil-cure."

"James…" Sirius whispered, disbelieving.

"It kinda… well it kinda caused boils on any skin it touched. Unfortunately, most of that skin was Slytherin…"

I lifted my hands up to my face. I suppose I was hoping their famed pranking hadn't started yet, but I already was developing a habit of having bad first impressions. James noticed my disappointment and retaliated.

"What, you think you're any better?" He exploded, standing up and pointing his finger in my face. "Well you're not! You're not! Who saved your arse while you were bloody dying out on the grounds? Huh? I did. I DID! And then you go ahead and betray us to… to the ENEMY! How could you! What I did is noth-"

He was abruptly cut off by a fist to the stomach. As Sirius backed away, James crumpled to the ground, hands around his gut. It was then that I noticed the silence that still permeated the common room – everyone had stopped to watch the show. I diverted my attention back to Sirius, who was standing over James' groaning form. He squatted down next to his friend.

"Apologize." Sirius growled. James shook his head, and Sirius went on. "Damnit James. When will you cut this crap out? You just had Peter take your beating for you, and now you blame this whole thing on a girl. Well, alright then. You can bloody well go fix this one on your own, unless you apologize…. Now, James. Apologize."

James looked up at me, clutching his stomach and whispered a non-committal "I'm sorry" before looking away, embarrassed. He began to get up, but when Sirius offered him a hand, he swatted it way. He got to his feet, looked back at Sirius and I, and then looked down at his shoes again, ashamed. He turned his back to us and made his way up the dormitory stairs on his own. Sirius followed a moment later after a quick nod and apologetic shrug in my direction.

I suddenly felt like an ant under a microscope – everyone in the common room was staring at me. Quickly, I grabbed my things and headed for the portrait door. If there was one place I knew how to get to in Hogwarts, it was the Hospital Wing, and I was sure Remus would be there.