She thought her life was over – but fate gave her another chance, in a world of magic. Now, running around Hogwarts with James Potter and his friends, she's about to make choices that will change the future in ways she never thought possible…

Marauder's Phase

CHAPTER EIGHT

WHAT!!??

When I woke up, for one crazy second, I thought I was home again.

Why? It's simple – I was lying in a bed, and it was a pretty cosy bed, too. Silk sheets…nice, warm blankets…

I smiled, and stretched out.

I opened my eyes.

"She's awake!" Whispered an urgent voice. "Sirius!" That was James talking.

Next thing I know, Sirius had strolled up to me casually. "Sleep well, Emma Pax?" He asked me.

Instinctively, I pulled the sheets up around my chest.

Sirius and James were both standing beside the bed I was lying in and, as I sat up, I realised with a start where I was – in one of the boys dorms in the Gryffindor tower.

My mouth fell open, and I began stammering: "W-what…G-Gryffindor…people…boys…n-not…we…sh-shouldn't…"

James and Sirius exchanged a glance. "Jeez, she sounds like Wormtail." James muttered.

Sirius nodded. He looked at me. "Ah, Emma? Sentences order into correct put?"

I glared at him. "Yeah, sure. Sirius, James, tell me – am I in the boys dormitory of the Gryffindor tower!?" I cried, my voice rising with each syllable.

Not surprisingly, James and Sirius said: "Ssh!" At the same time, and Sirius added: "No one else knows you're up here. We used Prongs' Invisibility Cloak…uh, that is to say J…"

"Yes, yes, I know who Prongs is," I said impatiently, looking around me, at the six beds, two of which were unmade. "So…there's only the four of you in here then?" I glanced at James for confirmation, and he nodded. "Do, umm…Remus and Peter know, yet?"

James looked surprise. "How did you..?"
I tapped my chest. "Big white wolf, remember?"

He nodded.

"Remus is in the library studying, as usual," Sirius said. "And Peter's probably in the kitchens, eating…" He rolled his eyes.

At these words, my stomach gave a painful little ache, and I winced.

The boys appeared not to have noticed, as I sat up and tried not to think about how hungry I was.

"D'ya reckon Moony will be mad when he finds out?" James whispered.

Sirius shrugged in a casual way. "So what if he is? I couldn't just leave the poor girl out there in the forest, to be eaten…"

I groaned. There was that word again.

This time, James and Sirius looked at me.

I attempted to smile. "Sorry, it's just that…" I gestured to my stomach. "I haven't eaten in three whole days…and what with all that running around in the forest, spell casting and whatnot…" I trailed off.

Sirius and James' eyes had widened in alarm, and then James turned and ran from the dormitory room, nearly colliding with Remus, who was coming in, and I froze.

Remus, who was carrying a large stack of books, turned to watch James go, and then turned back around, to find Sirius standing there, with an unfamiliar girl sitting up in the bed of a boy's dorm, staring at him.

Remus dropped the stack of books.

"Moony, this is Emma Pax, our white wolf girl." Sirius said, as if this were the most normal thing in the world. "Emma, our friend Remus Lupin, otherwise known as Moony."

"H-hi…" I said vaguely, wishing Remus would look somewhere other than at me.

Remus recovered after I'd spoken and, with a wave of his wand, got the books off the floor and onto the trunk at the foot of the bed I was in.

My eyes widened. Oh…

"And why is she in my bed, Padfoot?" Remus asked mildly.

Sirius shrugged casually, a smirk on his face. "I'm sure you don't mind, Moony?"

Remus' face coloured slightly. "That's not what this is about…" He informed Sirius, about as angrily as Remus could actually get, but his eyes flickered to me briefly, and he gave me a slight nod, like this was hardly my fault and all Sirius' fault (which it was, and I was glad Remus understood that).

Okay, now I'm sure my face would never get back to its original colour now. It would be forever stuck on red, like a broken traffic light.