Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter's world, including - but not limited to - Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore, and Wingardium Leviosa. If I did, I would simply publish another book and make some money, rather than posting this story online for free. But alas, I am but a poor waitress...

Chapter 3: Day One

It was a hot day, and the filing room of Mr. Kendrick's office was particularly stuffy with it's complete lack of windows. The one ancient ceiling fan slowly turned above, barely managing to circulate the warm air and providing little respite for any who dared enter the small room.

Mandy fanned herself with a folder in one hand while she thumbed through a file cabinet with the other. She was wearing only a light summer dress, hardly appropriate for the work place. Normally she would be dressed much more professionally, but it was just so hot...

The door behind her creaked open, and she turned to see who it was, although she already knew. Tall, dark, and handsome, the figure leaning against the doorway was always the same perfect man.

"Looking for something?" she asked, her voice suddenly breathless.

"Not any more," he replied, his deep voice thick with a Spanish accent. "I've already found you." The man straightened, and in just three long strides he had crossed the room to where she stood at the cabinet. He placed his arm around her waist and pulled her roughly to him.

Dropping the folder, she threw her arms around his neck and tilted her face up to his.

"Mandy..."

The way his voice caressed her name sent shivers up her spine, and she closed her eyes waiting for him to take her lips with his.

"Mandy... Mandy..."

Eyes still closed, she furrowed her brow slightly. It was all well and good that he knew her name and said it quite delightfully, but he hardly needed to repeat it over and over. And how long was he going to keep her waiting?

"Mandy!"

The curtains were ripped back from around her bed, and the bright, early morning light poured in over her. With a gasp, Mandy sat bolt upright. "Fuck! Am I late for work?" she cried out, blinking her eyes and trying to make sense of her surroundings.

Snickering came from across the room, and as her vision adjusted to the brightness of the room, she took note of the redhead standing beside her bed, hands on hips, smirk on lips.

"No," Lily said with a smile, "you're not late for work."

Mandy groaned and fell back onto her pillow.

"But you will miss breakfast if you don't get a move on."

"Fine, fine, I'll get up." Taking a deep breath, she mentally saved one last image of her dream-lover, then threw the covers aside and rolled out of bed.

"And that's some filthy language, young lady," Lily playfully chided as she walked away.

"First," Mandy retorted, digging a clean uniform out of her trunk, "you know I'm not much of a morning person. I can hardly be held accountable for what foul things come out of my mouth when I am so rudely awakened."

"This is true!" Kate piped up from the bathroom, where she was brushing out her long, golden curls. "Remember when Marcy and I thought it might be funny to wake her with a splash of water to her face the summer after fifth year?"

"Indeed," said Marcy as she laced up her shoes. "My poor virgin ears had never heard such obscenities!"

"Precisely." Mandy nodded her head firmly in Marcy's direction, looking very triumphant and knowing that she'd won that particular point.

Lily rolled her eyes as she picked up her bag and waited for the other girls to be ready.

"Second – and most importantly, if you ask me –"

"Which, you might note, we didn't..." Kate stage-whispered to the other two, as they all now waited for Mandy to finish gathering her things.

Mandy sent her an impatient look, but otherwise continued as if nothing had been said: "By waking me at that precise moment, you utterly ruined what should have been a very romantic moment between myself and... The Spaniard." She was waggling her eyebrows in a silly, yet suggestive manner, and her three friends all groaned as one.

They knew who The Spaniard was. Mandy had been dreaming about this fictional fellow since fourth year when Kate came back from a library date with a fifth year named John, practically bursting with juicy details of her spectacular first kiss. Mandy, who had not been kissed, could only imagine what it might be like. Thanks to her mother's corny movies and her own overactive imagination, The Spaniard was born one night shortly thereafter. She'd never really meant to reveal his existence, but a game of truth or dare, helped along by some ill-gotten Firewhiskey at a Quidditch party during sixth year, had somehow brought The Spaniard to light in front of her girlfriends.

He had yet to leave her dreams. Of course, she still had yet to be kissed. Not that she shared that particular piece of information with the public. Or anyone besides Lily, really.

"I really wanted to enjoy my breakfast, you know." Marcy said as she opened the door leading out of their dormitory.

"Yes, and I wanted a good snog in my dream. Guess it's a poor start to the day for all of us." Mandy replied in a chipper tone that belittled her statement.

Giggling and in high spirits, the foursome headed down to the Great Hall for their first Hogwarts breakfast of the school year.

.oOo.

Several hours later, her stomach still full from overeating at lunch (oh how she had missed Hogwarts food!), her bag full of shiny new homework assignments, and her brain full of mush from professors trying to cram too much in on day one, Mandy sat in the back row of the dingy potions classroom completely drained of all previous high spirits. Professor Slughorn's cauldron at the front of the room had been emitting a thick, sickly sweet cloud of smoke since they had first arrived nearly half an hour ago. It made her already exhausted mind that much foggier, and, combined with the dim lighting in the dungeon classroom, her eyelids seemed to be getting heavier by the second.

The professor was droning on and on about the properties of this plant and that animal byproduct. Lily was dutifully taking notes to her left, while Mandy doodled a sloppy flower. In the row in front of them, Kate and Marcy were scribbling notes of a different type back and forth between one another, but since passing them backwards was a bit risky, Mandy was kept out of this afternoon's gossip session. She had her book propped up on the table in front of her, and was resting her chin on her freehand. As her eyelids drooped further and further, she didn't even notice that her quill had stopped moving part-way through filling in a petal.

Thwack!

Something small bounced off her cheek and startled her awake. She jumped, jostling the table, and her carefully balanced book hit the floor with a slap that was all too loud in the quiet room.

All eyes turned back towards the sound, and Slughorn was now staring at her inquisitively. Thinking quickly, Mandy pasted a bright, eager smile across her features.

"I'm sorry, Professor. I just got a little overexcited there!" she chirped in a giddy – and hopefully convincing – tone. "I just find..." she quickly stole a glance at Lily's notes to see what he'd last been discussing, "...essence of poison ivy so incredibly fascinating! Especially the way you describe it. There's just so much passion in your lessons, and I find it quite hard to contain myself sometimes!" She batted her lashes a couple times, and prayed the man would buy her enthusiasm.

Fortunately for Mandy, Professor Slughorn was a sucker for flattery, and his round features rearranged themselves into a smile as she spoke.

"Well now!" he said jovially, "I'm glad to see you've taken to the subject so, Ms. Kendrick. I myself often feel the very same excitement during the lessons. However, we can't be distracting the rest of the class, so please do try to keep your enthusiasm reigned in.

"Now class, I hope you all find the essence of poison ivy so fascinating as Ms. Kendrick here, because it truly is a wonderful substance in potion brewing. As I was saying, not only is it used in many poisons – as one might assume from it's nature – but it can also be utilized in a wide variety of other useful purposes..."

As Slughorn turned his attention back to the lecture and the rest of the class, Mandy sighed in relief and retrieved her book before sinking back into her chair. She glanced at Lily, who was shaking her head. But the corner of her mouth seemed to be twitching up, so Mandy knew she wasn't too disappointed.

A slight noise made her look to her right, where James Potter and Co. were trying and failing to completely smother their amusement. Narrowing her eyes, she looked down at the wadded up piece of parchment on her desk that had awakened her. Carefully un-crumpling it, she saw a brief note scrawled out in messy boy's handwriting:

Time to wake up! Love, the Marauders

Mandy's eyes snapped back up to the four boys across the aisle, and she fixed them with a halfhearted glare. The Marauders. It was how they signed all of their pranks, making sure that everyone knew who was responsible for the mischief, as if there would have been any question. Black caught her eye and had the audacity to waggle his finger at her in mock consternation. Rolling her eyes and doing her best not to smile back at their antics, she turned to face the front again.

She spent the rest of the class trying diligently to pay attention and take notes, although in all honesty she found absolutely nothing at all fascinating about poison ivy and all the other potion ingredients Professor Slughorn lectured on.

.oOo.

By the time dinner rolled around that evening, Mandy didn't think she'd ever been so hungry. After all of their classes had finished, Lily had insisted on making the girls get a head start on their homework, and knowing they'd be fighting a losing battle, they all grudgingly obliged. Truth be told, Mandy didn't really mind Lily's nagging when it came to school work. If it wasn't for the fiery redhead, she sincerely doubted that she would have nearly the grades that she obtained each year. With her help, Mandy actually did quite well in her classes. As Lily liked to say, "you're not lacking in intelligence, just motivation."

To balance things out, Mandy tried to make sure that Lily didn't become so wrapped up in her studies that she forgot all else – like eating.

"Quills down, books away!" She crowed cheerfully when she checked her watch for the hundredth time and saw that they could finally go eat. "It's dinner time!"

"Already?" Lily said, sounding rather disappointed that they had to stop their studies.

Her voice was drowned out, however, by the much louder and more positive one of Kate. "All right! I'm starved, and these books are making my curls droop."

"As if that's possible," Marcy laughed, tugging on one of her friend's blonde locks. Sure enough, it bounced right back.

Kate swatted her hand away, and Mandy smiled as the two poked and teased at each other. Tossing her book bag under the nearest table, she looked at Lily who was neatly stacking all of her things off to the side where they were out of the way.

"Ready Lily?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Do you guys mind if we meet you down there?" Marcy suddenly asked. "I need to freshen up first."

"Sure...?" Lily said curiously.

Kate laughed. "She's meeting up with Alex at dinner, and wants to look her best. And of course, I'm going to help her."

Mandy grinned. "Of course. Come on Lily, let's go fill our stomachs."

A short ways outside of the portrait hole, the two girls were ambushed by the charming group of boys that called themselves Marauders.

"Well, hello there, Lily dearest. Fancy meeting you here!" James, of course. "May I have the honor of walking you to dinner?"

So smooth, so suave...so corny. Mandy rolled her eyes, even as Lily accepted his arm, saying, "Oh why not? You can walk with me, James."

As the boy's face split into a smile larger than one would think possible, Mandy exchanged looks with his friends and they all burst into laughter as they fell into step behind the not-quite-couple. Lily shot them a nasty look, but James was too pleased with himself to notice.

"So Mandy..." Sirius began in a tone that could only mean trouble. He was standing beside her, and she eyed him cautiously. "Did you have a nice nap in Potions this afternoon?"

"You really did miss a good lecture, you know..." Peter said, looking absolutely serious save for the twinkle in his eye.

"Fascinating subject, that poison ivy..." Remus added.

"Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps and fills me with the most marvelous sense of passion." Sirius finished, fluttering his eyelashes at her and saying the word in a positively sinful manner.

"Oh, you prats!" Mandy exclaimed, playfully shoving him in the shoulder. "You're supposed to pick on the Slytherins in class, or at the very least Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Not me, your beloved housemate."

He placed his hand on his shoulder feigning great injury, and Peter gasped in mock astonishment.

"Pick on you?" Peter cried, sounding quite aghast. "My dear Ms. Kendrick, I can assure you that Mr. Black only had your best interests at heart!"

"Really?" she retorted, her eyebrow arched. Despite herself, Mandy couldn't help but be curious as to where they would go with this. "And what interests might those be?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Sirius said softly, his face full of compassion. Then, leaning over and placing his hand conspiratorially next to his mouth, he said in a stage whisper, "You were on the verge of snoring."

It was now Mandy's turn to gasp and look shocked. "I most certainly was not!"

He nodded morosely. "Alas, but you were."

James, without removing his arm from Lily's, called back, "It's sad, but true."

Mandy harrumphed, and opened her mouth to speak, but Sirius wasn't finished.

His voice and expression suddenly chipper, he continued. "If you had snored, you would have been publicly humiliated, and Professor Slughorn would have taken house points, shaming all of us."

"I do not snore !"

"Regardless, if he had caught you sleeping, you would have still lost the points."

"If I hadn't been so quick to think up an excuse, I would have lost the points anyway," she grumbled.

"Well, life's a gamble!" was his merry reply. "Besides, it wouldn't be the first points Gryffindor lost today!"

Lily looked back at that statement. "Sirius Black! You've lost points already? It's only the first day of classes!" Her green eyes then flashed to her escort, who's hazel ones widened innocently in response.

"Who said we lost them? Don't worry Lily, I'm head boy this year; I'll behave!"

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at the boy, but she continued to walk with him.

Mandy cast a pleading look to Remus. "You're supposed to be the levelheaded one, Remus. Help me out here."

The sandy-haired boy only shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands hopelessly. "Sorry, but I'm with my mates on this one. We saved you, and our precious house points."

"But –"

"Furthermore," Sirius interrupted once again, "if we hadn't intervened, you wouldn't have been given that beautiful opportunity to charm the socks off old Sluggy, which is sure to be beneficial in the future." All this in a very matter-of-fact sort of way.

She rolled her eyes. "I did not charm him..."

He looked at her incredulously, before smiling and batting his eyelashes at an alarming rate. "Oooh, Professor Slughorn, I love the way yoouuu teach. I just can't contain myself!" He sang in a high-pitched voice.

Mandy knew she had lost this one, and could see no point in continuing. With a sigh, she threw her hands up in defeat. "Very well, you've made your case. It would seem that I owe you a debt of gratitude."

The instant the words were out her mouth, she regretted saying them. The boys all exchanged devilish looks, and it was Sirius who said with an arrogant smirk, "I'll hold you to that."

It's not healthy to owe a Marauder

A/N: Please leave a review if you like the story, and if I've made any horrendous mistakes feel free to point them out. :) Thanks for reading!

– Sara