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 TWELVE

Prefect

My first week at Hogwarts was more fun than I have ever had in my whole life, and that includes trick-or-treating with Lillyana and the others. I got to experience Hogwarts at its finest, trailing one or more of the Marauders into class, getting full use of the invisibility cloak, and more than once James and Sirius referred to me as their 'shadow'. Also, Sirius had started calling me 'Em' and, in somewhat retaliation at the nickname, I called him 'Siri'. The others just seemed to except this.

I had explained to Remus why I'd done what I'd done to Snape, and he seemed to except that, although forewarning me not to tell anyone that I was a muggle-born. People tended to be a little…critical.

"Which you know on a whole new level." I'd stated plainly.

He'd merely nodded, as we sat there in the library, making a list of the spells I already knew, and of the ones I had yet to learn/Sirius and James wanted to teach me to use against 'Snivellus'. A whole new world had been opened up to me and, before long, I was looking forward to practicing magic with my new friends, who in turn seemed to enjoy teaching me.

I was also very glad none of them had asked me too many questions about where I'd come from. They all just seemed to except me and that I didn't want to talk about it, and indeed Sirius and James seemed especially thrilled with hiding me in the castle, an unregistered student learning right under the teachers' noses. The invisibility cloak played a key role in this, as did my small size – it made it much easier for me to get around in the crowded corridors when I was following one of the boys to their – our – next class.

But, of course, we had a few near misses, especially since a certain Severus Snape seemed to have decided that the Marauders were up to more than usual, and had decided to keep an eye on them.

This complicated things.

On Wednesday, I realised something dreadful, and the worst part was, I couldn't tell the boys about it! It was entirely a woman's thing! Not only that, but I had been wearing the same clothes for a couple of days in a row, and I badly needed to wash my hair, for fear of it become like Snape's…it was time to do something about this, and I had a good plan.

And, it involved Gryffindor Prefect Remus Lupin.

On Tuesday night, I was sitting up in the dormitory on my newly made bed, playing Wizards Chess with James.

I watched in horror as his queen picked up her throne and beheaded one of my knights. "That's positively barbaric!" I exclaimed.

"That's Wizards Chess." James said, smiling smugly.

I just gaped.

Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Remus was packing some certain things into a little bag, and it was time to put my plan into action.

I stood up. "Going out Remus?" I asked casually, eyeing his bag.

He nodded, and I grabbed the invisibility cloak. "Great, I need to go out too." It was a pain, that I had to be with one of the boys if I needed to go in or out of the common room, but it also helped me with my plan. You see…the boys had never even bothered to tell me where the girls washroom was, and I'd been hard-pressed as it was to find the actual ladies room by myself (I'd gotten lost twice since Tuesday, and was going to have to talk to the boys about the Marauder's Map).

So…I was going to use the Prefect's bathroom.

"I'll meet you outside the portrait." Remus said, as we walked toward the dorm room door.

"Umm…I might be awhile." I said, hoping no one would ask where I was going. "And I want to go on my own." I added.

"Well, one of us will be waiting for you." Remus promised.

I nodded. That was okay with me. "Thank you."

***

An hour and a half later, I was walking past the statue of Boris the Bewildered, and locating the door that I had seen Remus disappear into just thirty minutes ago. I leaned close to it and muttered: "Fire Fox."

Whatever one of those is, I thought, as the door creaked open. I went through it, and bolted it shut behind me, taking off the invisibility cloak and looking around me in amazement.

Softly lit by a splendid candle-filled chandelier, everything made of white marble – including what looked like a large, rectangular swimming pool – and what looked like a hundred golden taps each with a coloured jewel. Long white linen curtains hung at the windows, there was a large pile of fluffy white towels in the corner of the room, and a diving board.

There was only one difference between the room now, and how it might look years and years later, and that was the painting on the wall. It was of a big whitish-grey wolf-looking thing and, as I looked at it, it seemed to look back at me.

It had the exact same coloured eyes as Remus.

Blinking, I turned from the painting, and began trying out those taps.

A few rainbows and pink heart-shaped bubbles later (I made a mental note of which of the taps I liked the best) I was undressed, and sliding into the water with relief. I also got my clothes, and put them in the water too, washing them as best I could without a washing machine, and then used Wingardium Leviosa (which is harder to do than it sounds and took me three tries with my robes) to hang them up on this thin line of wire I could see running from one wall to the other. I only hoped I'd be able to get them down from there.

One end of the pool/bath was shallower than the other end, and I stayed in the shallow end because – are you ready for this? – I can't swim. I know, sad isn't it? I've never been very good at swimming, and my parents just sort of gave up on me after awhile. That's the pits, when your parents lose faith in you like that, but that's the way it is. Plus, I nearly drowned when I was three – it left me with scars that are hidden, unlike the one on my neck.

Instead, I just lay on my back (floating is one thing I can do) and began to sing: "I'm a dreamer...

Hidden power...

A world yet unseen...

No matter what awaits me there,

even if it's not the ideal,

I won't be afraid.

The birds travel on the wind

on a journey from today to tomorrow.

I want to tell you... I want to shout it...

I am but one entity in this world.

But like a prayer, like a star,

even with a small light, someday,

I want to be

stronger and stronger."

I don't pretend to be a good singer – I am no Celine Dion. But I enjoy singing, and I've been told that my voice is alright. Not good enough for Australian Idol (Magic Idol?) but people don't mind listening to me sing. That's more than I could've hoped for. I'm a horrible cook, can't sew to save my life, and don't get me started on my handwriting. That's why Remus is doing most of the writing for me with my list of spells (although I liked using a quill and ink).

After awhile, I noticed a few bottles sitting on the side of the rectangle of water and bubbles, and waded over to them.

Shampoo. Said one.

Conditioner. Said another.

Body Wash. Said a third.

Nearby was a box of sanitary napkins.

I sighed. "Thank you, God."

***

No One's P.O.V:

James, Sirius and Peter looked up as Remus entered the dorm room, and stowed his bag under his bed.

"Where's Em?" Were the first words out of Sirius' mouth.

Remus frowned. "I don't know – she's probably gotten lost again. Why didn't one of you go with her?" He added, gazing at each of his friends in turn.

"She said she wanted to go alone." James replied, shrugging. "I'm sure she's fine."

Remus' frown deepened and, for some reason, he felt like he should check the map. It hadn't been perfected yet, and there were still a lot of places that they hadn't yet explored, as well as a few places that were outside, on the grounds – but there would be another full moon in a couple of weeks, they could do it then.

Would Emma be coming with them? Remus wondered, absentmindedly gazing at the map. Her Animagus form, the white wolf, was truly intriguing to Remus, and he wondered why she had chosen it. When had she learned to transform? Why? He vaguely remembered the way she had countered his attack, when he'd lost it and nearly killed James – and suddenly Remus knew a reason why Sirius wanted Emma to stay, why he was working so hard to keep her hidden. He wondered if that was the only reason.

Suddenly, something caught Remus' eye, and he looked at it more closely.

There, on the map, was the little banner that read Emma Pax. And she was, apparently, in the Prefects bathroom. How had she gotten in there? Only Prefects were meant to know the password…unless Emma had followed Remus this evening and learned the password.

The pieces suddenly began to fall into place – her standing up as soon as she'd seen what Remus was doing, wanting to go alone…she must've been planning this.

And, Remus realised with guilt, they had never actually bothered to show her where the girls washroom was. She had gotten desperate and, not wanting to ask them about it, had done the next best thing – something that probably earned her the name of Marauder.

Remus thought for a moment, and then made his decision.

Standing up, Remus said: "I'll go and wait for her…"

"Don't bother, Moony," James said, not looking up from his book Quidditch Through The Ages. "Padfoot already went about,"(He checked his watch). "Five minutes ago."

"Well, then I'll go too." Remus said firmly.

"Whatever." James replied.

Peter watched Remus go, and said nervously: "What if they're caught?"

"They won't get caught." James said confidently. "They're Marauders."

Peter was not convinced.