Welcome to chapter 2! Before I start, I want you all to know that I don't own Harry Potter or anything to do with Harry Potter, all I own is Winnie Powers and thank you. Also, if you think I should make Winnie with one of the marauders, let me know because I'm still thinking about that.

CHAPTER 2

They all turned their heads towards me at the same time. All at once they jumped up, greeting me while they were laughing. I shut the door and turned my head to lock gazes with a tall boy with dark knotted hair and a bright smile who was also known as James Potter. He jumped from his seat and enveloped me in his usual friendly, cordial hug.

He then flicked my forehead, "It's a stag not a moose and you know it Winifred Powers!" James Potter laughed.

"It's Winnie and you know it, James Potter." I said, lightly punching his shoulder.

My eyes met Remus's and we shared a smile as he warmly embraced me. As he let me go, a light bulb turned on in his head (or it seemed) and he asked:

"Oh, Winnie did you get the book I sent you? The muggle story you wanted about-"

I cut him off, " About the four girls? I sure did, Lupin. I really liked it especially the part when the girl decided to chop off her hair to save her family because they really needed the -"

They all groaned, making me roll my eyes.

"Save the school stuff for school, Winnie." Sirius said in a mocking tone.

I turned my head to face Sirius and playfully rolled my eyes as Sirius approaches me; he shot me a grin and said in a loud voice:

"Winnie! Good to see you mate."

He then proceeded to hug me before pausing and looking at me with curiosity; I furrowed my brows at him. Silently asking him 'what's wrong?' He then put his hand on the top of my head and measured.

"Hey, guys did Winnie get taller?" Sirius said jokingly.

I batted his hand away and crossed my arms, quickly scanning my brain for a witty retort.

"Excuse me Black? I am and always have been tall, it's just that you're all six foot a million so I'm sure you can hardly tell."

"Six foot a million." James repeated, throwing his head back and laughing his loud laugh.

"Oh, shut it Potter." I mumbled as I sat down next to Remus.

My eyes then focused on Peter Pettigrew who was sitting opposite me. He wasn't a particularly smart or handsome fellow. Peter with his protruding chubby cheeks, matted blonde hair and shifty eyes. He didn't really do or say much; he was just there all the time. It kind of bothered me that he didn't say hello or acknowledge me in any way but I assumed it was because I was a female and probably the only female he ever interacted with.

Our eyes locked for a moment before he shifted his eyes to Remus who was sitting besides me. For some reason, the fact that I intimidated him - or anyone actually greatly boosted my ego.

I turned my attention on to Remus who was deeply engrossed in a book, that's when I noticed the look of exhaustion on his face. His eyes were bloodshot red and he had obvious bags under his eyes that were paired with a couple of scars across his face and a one large one leading all the way down to his neck. I felt a pang in my heart as I took in his state.

James didn't allow my train of thought to continue because he looked at me and said:

"Winnie, why didn't you tell me your brother came to visit! I had to hear it from mum. I could've learned some valuable quidditch moves!" he whined.

My brother Greg was a part of the Chudley Cannons. A team that wasn't very good nor was it very bad. Their motto was But was quite popular with Gryffindors due to the fact that their unifrom colors were the exact same colors of the Gryffindor house.

"I didn't know until he arrived! besides, I hardly think my brother will share his top secret quidditch moves with you. Speaking of your mum how is she anyway?" I say, laughing.

"She's fine, she's been asking about you a lot! Where's Winnie? How is Winnie? Winnie this, Winnie that. I won't be surprised if she adopts you." James says, running a hand through his messy hair. A habit he did which not only made his hair more knotted but also made the girls fawn over him for some bizzare reason.

"That's great news just send the adoption papers right over!" I said, laughing. "Actually, you know what she might actually do that. Never mind."

"I was just going to say that. You don't know mum." He said, scratching the back of his neck.

I smiled cheekily and turn my attention to the window, it was getting dark now and I could faintly see Hogwarts from afar. It was brightly lit, almost making it seem like it was glowing from within. I caught my reflection in the window. With my dark and defined curly hair, tanned skin and my permanently bored face. I always seemed to stick out like a sore thumb.

"Winnie?" Remus's voice said, making me glance up. I then realised that we had indeed arrived.

"Then – then she says, you know what she says? Leave before I turn you into a banshee, you poor excuse for a human being!" James said loudly, shaking his hands to illustrate his point.

"Mhm," I say, completely ignoring him and focusing solely on the chess game that was happening between Sirius and I. "Knight to E5?" I mumble uncertainly.

Sirius clucked his tongue, "A poorly executed move resulting in the death of your knight, Winnie." Sirius said arrogantly as we both watched my knight being smashed violently. I cringe, whispering a apology to the now crushed knight.

James looks at us and runs a hand through his hair, angrily. "Are you two even listening?!"

We both mumble incoherent yes's as we both try to figure out how to win the game. James looks between us and takes the chess game and throws it like a Frisbee – right at the Gryffindor beater who surprisingly ends up catching it.

"Hey! We were playing that!" I say in an annoyed tone.

"I am opening my heart to you to and what do I get in return? Absolutely nothing! Thank you for nothing, you awful human beings." James says dramatically and drops himself on the couch. I sigh and turn my body to face James who was staring at the ceiling. A look of sadness and confusion evident on his face, I didn't understand why he liked Lily so much. There were plenty of girls who constantly tried to get his attention but he always went after for the one who didn't seem to care for him at all.

I looked across the common room where Lily sat with her friends, she was the kind of good girl who always did her work on time, who never partied, who probably never drank or did anything crazy. She was the teachers pet and one of the most respected girls in our school, she was the perfect role model for the younger students. Lily Evans was literally the opposite of James Potter. James Potter was loud, misbehaved and funny. But despite his behavior, he was an incredible student who possessed good looks, charms and the strange ability to always get out of trouble.

I pulled myself out of my thoughts and focused on the conversation Sirius, Remus and James were having (quite loudly) on Lily.

"I'm just saying maybe you should give up on her, mate. There are plenty of fish in the sea." Sirius said to James.

James rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well it's a good thing I'm allergic to fish."

Remus laughed, "That doesn't even make sense."

"Maybe you should leave her alone." Peter squeaked, making us all turn to him and making him turn a bright shade of pink.

"What? Leave her alone? Then how would she go out with me, come on Wormtail!" He said frustratedly as he clutched a pillow to his face.

"You know, James. I think he has a good point." I spoke up.

James lowered the pillow and looked at me as if I had just spoken in parseltongue, "Are you joking?" he said in a bemused voice.

"No, listen. I'm a girl." I paused. "Well, I'm a girl-ish. So, lets put it in my perspective, shall we? Okay, if there's a guy who constantly bothers me and talks to me, I'd get annoyed by him. But, if he suddenly leaves me alone and starts to act like a normal human being, I'll think 'maybe he's changed' then I might give this guy a second chance! If you do this, you might actually get a shot with Lily!" I say, slightly excited.

James eyed me curiously and then said in a low voice, "D'you reckon it'll work?"

I shrugged, "No, but you've got nothing to lose so why not!"

James groaned and covered his head with the pillow once more. "Thanks!" he mumbled.

Sirius threw his head back and laughed, hitting me on the shoulder, "Aren't you just full of optimism!" he said sarcastically.

I clutched my shoulder and slightly winced, "Yeah, that's me. Winnie the Optimist."

The conversation then drifted from Lily to summer and what they had all been doing, Remus informed all of us that he had gone to Germany and showed us pictures. James spoke proudly about how he had been training all summer to become the captain of the quidditch team. Peter talked about how he had a 'amazing' time with his family. I noticed how quiet Sirius was being. He was usually the loud and outgoing one, but when the conversation drifted upon the subject of family or summer, Sirius would become practically silent.

Sirius Black. He was the odd one out of his family, or so I've noticed. He had dark, shaggy hair which made me think of his animagus and 'hypnotizing' grey eyes (or so I've been told by his many admirers) He was also quite tall and well-built from quidditch. He always seemed to have a smile on his face and could easily put a smile on another person's face. Sirius was charming, flirtatious and a bit manipulative. He knew exactly what to say to get what he wanted from anybody. I wouldn't deny the fact that he was good looking, but to me he had more of a tortured soul kind of aura around him. I had an inkling it had to do with his family, but he never spoke much of them..not to me, anyways.

Speak of the devil, Sirius Black looked up and looked right at me, "Why'd you always do that?" he whispered.

I gave him a bemused look, "Do what?"

He scratched his head, "I don't know, you just always have this on your face. It feels like you're peering into my soul.

I laughed, "I'm not peering into anyone's soul..I'm just- I don't know observing, I guess?"

He smirked, "Oh, you're observing me. So..like what you see?"

I hit him with a pillow, "No! This is why I don't talk to you that much." I said, annoyed.

He slipped his arm across my shoulders, "It's alright darling, if you want to confess your undying love for me you can. I've had about three today."

I rolled my eyes, shrugging his hand off my shoulders. "No way. Three confessions? It's our first day." I said, not believing him.

He shrugged, "It's true, I promise. But what can I do? There is no time frame for love. Well, more like one-sided love anyway. It's flattering yes but oh, is it awkward,"

I shook my head and put a hand on my heart, "You poor soul, having people confess their love to you must be so tiring. How ever do you do it?" I said sarcasm rolling off my tongue easily.

He laughed his annoyingly-loud laugh as usual, "I missed you a lot, Dot."

I scrunched my nose up in annoyance, he was using my marauders/animagus nickname. Dot, it was so plain and boring. While they got cool names like Padfoot, Moony, Prongs and Wormtail, all I got was the stupid name Dot due to my cheetah animagus. I clearly instructed them to never call me that and to call me Winnie instead but who can stop the marauders?

"Oi, what are you two chatting about?" James said, pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

I stood up and cleared my throat, "Gentleman, I have an announcement to - eh, announce."

Remus laughed, "Go on then."

"How about we make this year- sixth year - the best year ever!"

Sirius furrowed his brows, "But what about next year?"

"We won't have time for fun because we'll be too busy deciding what we want to do for the rest of our lives! So, I propose that this year will be the greatest, most unforgettable year! what do you say?" I grinned brightly.

I was surprised when the whole common room exploded into cheers and claps, obviously liking the idea of a fun and memorable year. Seeing everyone's excitement made me feel a twinge of happiness and I made an invisible promise to myself to have the best year I could possibly have.

"I think that response was pretty clear." Remus said, in a amiable tone.