The Hidden Room

"I wonder if he's young?" Darlene mused, curling a brown strand of hair around her finger. The sixth year Gryffindor's were all sat in an empty classroom, waiting for the new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher to arrive, and speculating what he would looked like.

"Yeah, I bet he is." Susan replied keenly from a few desks away. It had appeared that she was back on speaking terms with the girls, after approaching Addie and shyly congratulating her on her catch. Jo, however, still seethed, refusing to take part in the conversation from her seat next to Susan. "But no one's seen him yet," the girl continued, her pale blue eyes glittering. "It's all very mysterious."

"I reckon you're all fussing over nothing. I reckon he'll be an old hag." Sirius said simply, rocking back on his chair and sweeping his dark hair out of his eyes. "Like the last one."

"Professor Clutterbuck was nice." Addie bit back, frowning. She was feeling irritable today, ever since a letter had arrived that morning from her mother. She'd gushed to her mum about starting Hogwarts- about the lessons, the spells, her Quidditch trials and her friends, but all she'd gotten in reply was a short passage in her mother's beautiful hand, stating that she was 'glad that Addie was having a good time', but they were very busy, and 'letter-writing wasn't on the top of the list of priorities.' The words had hurt and angered Addie, but Louisa's drawing of her school room and teacher had at least cheered her up slightly.

Sirius simply arched his brows. "If you say so." But the face he pulled had Peter chuckling.

"Why did she leave anyway?" Remus asked, chewing his lip like he did when he was concerned. "I was getting O's in DADA when she taught us."

"Yeah, but that's just because she had a crush on you Moony." Sirius grinned. "The old witch couldn't help but give her favourite student top-"

"Oh, shut up Black." Darlene interrupted. "No one wants to hear your sexual fantasies involving Remus and Professor Clutterbuck."

Sirius raised one dark eyebrow, smirking. "Are you saying you want to hear my other sexual fantasies, O'Connell?"

"Maybe I am."

"Well we'll have to do something about that."

Addie watched Sirius and Darlene flirt with a tight feeling in her stomach. For some reason, she found herself unable to watch. How was it so easy for them? Any time a boy so much as looked at her, she wanted to hide behind her mane of hair.

"I think her husband got spattergroit." Lily explained to Remus, glancing between Sirius and Darlene. "That's what Alice said."

"My dad's friend had that." grimaced James. "Nasty thing. The poor bloke was bedridden for months."

"What is it?" Addie asked, drawing her eyes away from Sirius and Darlene, who were laughing.

"It's this really contagious disease that makes people break out in purple blisters." Marlene explained- she was an aspiring healer, and knew lots about different wizarding diseases. "Very horrible- it prevents you from speaking after a while."

"Poor Professor Clutterbuck." Addie muttered. "I hope her husband's okay."

Remus checked his watch. "Where is this guy?" he asked. "It's been fifteen minutes."

"Maybe he's picking out a hot outfit." Susan giggled.

Lily rolled her eyes- she still hadn't fully forgiven the girl for taking Jo's side. "It's not about what he looks like." she stated passionately. "It's about how good of a teacher he is…"

She trailed off as the class went silent, and turned quickly to see their new professor standing by the door. He was a strange looking fellow in his mid-forties with greying black hair, a dark fuzzy moustache and a beard to match. Watching his dark robes fall to the floor, Addie knew that Darlene must be disappointed- he was cruel looking, and not at all handsome. He looked as though, given the right setting, he could win a fight just with one death glare- his expression was blank, and the eyes that bored into Lilly's were cold.

"Are you questioning my ability to teach, young lady?" he asked, his voice dangerously soft.

Lily blushed a deep scarlet. "No, not at all Professor. I was just-"

"Good. Because I won't tolerate disrespect in my classroom." He spoke the words slowly, his voice carrying across the silent room. Everybody looked disgruntled by the unfairness, as Lily sank into her seat.

Addie scowled deeply. "Please Sir, she was just-"

"Silence." He trailed his dark gaze over to Addie, who lifted her chin defiantly, but couldn't stop the slight tremble in her fingers. "And you are?"

"Addie."

"Full name?"

"Addie Reid."

He sighed as though she was deliberately wasting his time, brushing his long fingers across his forehead in an irritated manner. "I said full name, girl. There will be no silly nicknames here."

"Oh." She gulped. "My name's Adelaide- Adelaide Reid."

"Well then, Miss Reid, I would appreciate it if you didn't speak out of turn. Especially when I am disciplining your classmate."

"But Sir, Lily didn't do anything." James argued, glaring at the Professor.

"And who are you to judge that… Mr Potter, isn't it?"

"Yes." James didn't look surprised that the Professor knew his name- his family were well known in the wizarding world. "But we were all here before, when she was talking. And she didn't-"

"That's enough, Mr Potter."

"But-"

"I said that is enough!" The professor's cheeks were red as the shout echoed around the room, leaving behind it a painful silence. He finally seemed satisfied, however, and brushed his palms together as though the hard work was done. "Right. Now we have sorted that out, let us begin." he said, firmly. "My name is Professor Edwards, and I am the new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher here. I do, however, have past experience and I am fully qualified in this subject, so you will listen carefully to my instructions and obey at all times. Understood?"

The class nodded mutely, internally cursing the professor.

"Good. Open your books to page 192, and we shall start you first topic."

Sullenly, the class obliged, throwing gloomy looks at each other as they did so. It seemed they'd got the teacher from hell, and were in for a long year.

The lesson dragged on painfully slowly, and it was a relief when they finally escaped the dusty confines of the dingy classroom, which obviously hadn't been used in a while. As soon as they stepped into the corridor, the chattering comments began.

"Merlin's beard, that was awful." Darlene complained loudly, wrinkling her nose. "I nearly died from boredom."

"Same here." Marlene replied with a sigh.

Lily's eyes were burning like fiery emeralds. "I hate that guy!" she snarled. "Picking on people like that, and he wasn't even a good teacher! We did no practical work, and he barely even explained any of the topics we covered."

"Are you talking about Professor Asshole, by any chance?" came a voice. Marlene, Lily, Addie and Darlene turned round to face Thomas Winters and Ethan Scott. They were both Hufflepuffs in the year above, and friends with Alice and Frank. Both were tall, with only a height difference of an inch or two, but Thomas had light brown hair, littered with golden highlights, where Ethan's was long and dark blonde.

Darlene grimaced. "Who else would we be talking about? Have you guys had him yet?"

"Unfortunately." replied Thomas with an easy grin, his eyes skirting across the group and landing on Addie. "We had him yesterday. He's a right git, isn't he? Ethan ended up looking like a proper plonker." He elbowed his best friend, who laughed.

"I can't deny that. He made me stand up in front of everyone and 'declare my respect', didn't he? I've been a laughing stock all morning."

"I'm sure you'll get over it mate." Thomas chuckled, turning back to face the girls. "Hey, Addie, I heard you were awesome in the quidditch trials, by the way." he said, making the girl blush.

"How did you hear that?" she asked, embarrassed.

He winked. "You know how rumours fly in the world of quidditch." Thomas was captain of the Hufflepuff team, and an excellent chaser. "But congratulations. It's not every day a new talent is found." His eyes were warm and his smile genuine, and Addie couldn't help but beam back.

"Thanks Thomas."

"Call me Tom." He locked eyes with her for a second, before turning back at the other girls.

"Well, we'll see you around, ladies." he said, and with that, they'd disappeared.

Darlene smirked at Addie. "Someone's got the hots for you, you lucky bitch."

She snorted, tugging her bag onto her shoulder. "Whatever, Dar."

That evening, the girls were hanging out in the dorm, wearing varying coloured pyjamas. Marlene was sat on the bed with Addie, braiding her hair whilst Lily and Darlene bickered over the best muggle songs to listen to on the record player. Lily had bought it with her from home two years previously, and they listened to it most nights before bed if they weren't studying.

Addie zoned back into their argument as Marlene finished and the relaxing feel of her friend's fingers gently plaiting her hair ended. It seemed Lily wanted to listen to John Lennon, whilst Darlene was adamant they should listen to Led Zeppelin. It was getting pretty heated, and Marlene grinned, rolling her eyes at Addie. "Those two will be the death of me." she muttered.

"I know." Addie replied, smiling.

"Your hair looks cute, by the way." Marlene said, her eyes scanning the dark braid that ran down her back. She sighed. "I so wish my hair was like yours."

"Mar, are you crazy?" She had to be bluffing; Marlene had perfect hair- the straight golden blonde locks fell down her back, framing her small face. Next to her, Addie looked like a crazy cat lady.

"I'm not crazy- I mean it…" She fingered a strand of her own. "Don't you think mine's kind of boring?"

Before Addie could reply, however, Darlene piped up. It seemed Lily had won the argument, because Imagine was drifting through the dormitory, and she wanted to change the subject.

"Can I ask you lot something?" she said, folding her legs beneath her.

"Sure." said Addie.

"Well… what do you guys think of Andrew Baker?" she asked, running her hands along her tan legs and avoiding their eye contact.

"He's okay…" Lily said slowly, scrutinising her face. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason."

There was a long pause. "Darlene…" Lily began.

"Alright, alright!" The other witch looked up, and Addie was surprised to see she was blushing. Darlene never got embarrassed. She smirked sheepishly. "You've got me."

"It's ever since you've been sat with him in potions isn't it?" Addie groaned and the girl only blushed harder.

"Wait a second… Isn't Jo going out with him?" Marlene questioned, confused.

"Ssh!" Darlene hissed, looking around, but thankfully Jo and Susan were still in the common room. "Don't you think I know that?"

"So, then what-"

"I don't know, I don't know." Darlene sighed. Seeing their expressions she hurried to continue. "Nothing's happened. It's just… when I sit by him in potions he's so sweet, and… and I think I've got a crush on him." She looked up, hesitantly, biting her lip. "Is it that bad?"

Lily ran a hand through her hair. "Well it's not bad, so to say, it's just..." She grimaced. "He's taken, Dar, so you've gotta move on."

"I know." She buried her head in her hands. "I just… I wanted to tell you guys."

"He's a bit of an airhead though, isn't he?" Marlene said doubtfully.

Darlene rolled her eyes. "Marlene, Will is an airhead. Andrew's just… charming, I think."

"Will isn't an airhead!" Marlene retorted, irritated. "He's just-"

"Alright, alright guys." Lily said calmingly. "There's no need to argue." She turned to Darlene. "Why don't you just find someone else to gush over? Maybe that'll take your mind of Andrew."

"That's a good idea." Addie commented, "It'll help you get over him."

"Like who?" Darlene said, doubtfully.

"I saw you getting pretty friendly with Sirius black today." Marlene laughed, tugging a blonde strand behind her ear.

Addie swallowed thickly. For some reason, she couldn't picture Sirius and Darlene together. Darlene seemed to be thinking along the same lines, since she pulled a face. "That'd be too weird. And anyway, everyone knows Black's got an on-off thing with Dorcas." Dorcas meadows was a fellow Gryffindor in her seventh year. Tall and willowy with light brown hair and chocolate eyes, she was sought after by all the boys- and Sirius Black was one of the lucky ones who got to be with her.

"That's true." Lily agreed, chewing on her lower lip. She glanced at Marlene. "What about one of Will's friends?"

"No." moaned Darlene. "Andrew's friends with Will, so I'd just end up seeing him all the time…" She groaned. "Oh, it's pointless."

Marlene went to sit beside her, patting her on the back sympathetically. "It's not pointless, Dar. You just need some girl time. Forget about boys and let's just have a fun night, alright?"

Darlene nodded glumly.

"Okay!" Marlene beamed at them all, injecting enthusiasm in her voice. "Enough of this moping- let's have some real fun."

"Real fun?" Addie repeated, dubious.

"Yes!" Marlene's eyes glittered like they always did when she was excited- she was classed at the quiet one, but could be quite rebellious when it came to her friends, and Addie knew she was up to something. Next to her, a small grin had begun to creep up Darlene's face. "Will you do the honours, Dar?" Marlene asked.

Lily shot a bewildered look at Addie, showing that she had just as much knowledge of what they were planning as Addie did, whilst Darlene strode over to the wardrobe. She returned with her arms full of firewhisky and a proud smile on her face.

Lily's eyes widened. "How did you get that into school?" she asked, looking as though she were a mixture of both surprised and impressed.

"Sirius got me some. That's what we were joking about before that awful DADA lesson earlier- but don't mention it to him. He said James would kill him if he found out that he'd sneaked booze in that wasn't for the marauders."

Lily grinned. "Well, I'll drink to that. Anything that will piss Potter off is surely worth doing."

"You do realise it's a Thursday night, Dar." laughed Addie, but still she took the offered bottle.

"Yeah, we were gonna save it for the first quidditch after party," Marlene explained. "But I figured we all needed some cheering up after such a shitty day." She raised her bottle. "To Hogwarts!"

They all cheered.

An hour later and the girls were crying with laughter. The empty bottles lay discarded on the floor as they giggled about the funniest moments they'd shared together. "Remember wheeen… Addieee…" Darlene broke off, bursting into a fit of laughter, that was so contagious it had them all grinning. She was the drunkest of them all, and her words slurred together as she spoke.

"Remember when Addie what?" Lily asked, wiping her eyes.

Darlene gulped. "That time sheee… sheee swam out- into the black lake…"

At that they all burst out laughing- all except Addie, that was, who blushed scarlet. They all knew the story; way back in fourth year, the Gryffindor's had been revising for their end of year exams by the lake, when Sirius had dared Addie to wade in. He stated that she was a wuss since she was terribly afraid of the water, and Addie, being the stubborn arse she was, had taken up the challenge. However, she wasn't a very strong swimmer, and the whole thing didn't end well at all. She'd spluttered and thrashed, and Hagrid had been the one who had waded out into the water to get her, plucking her out of the lake like she was just a wading duck… she had been perfectly fine, with only the loss of her dignity to grieve, but the memory of her covered in seaweed, cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, would forever be able to make them crack up.

"Will you guys ever get over that?" Addie asked, rolling her eyes, but she couldn't hide her smile at the memory. She missed the old days, where everybody got along and it felt as though they had no worries in the world.

"No." Marlene stated sombrely, then, "I tell you want… why don't we go somewhere?" She stood up and swung her long blonde hair out of her face, beaming down at them all. She was pretty balanced as she pulled her hair into a ponytail, but the rosiness of her cheeks gave away the fact she'd been drinking.

"Yeah." Darlene agreed. Her brown eyes sparkled with mischief as she warmed to the suggestion. "I say we doo something excitiiing! "

"Like what?" Addie said hesitantly, unsure just what 'exciting' meant to Darlene.

"Let's exploree!" she slurred. "We can go round schoool… sneak down to the kitchens… come on guys!" she frowned, seeing Lily and Addie's dubious expressions.

"It's not a good idea." Lily frowned. "We're tipsy, for Merlin's sake… If McGonagall found us…"

"She won't." pressed Darlene, turning her forceful gaze to Addie. "Ads? Wha' you think?"

Addie faltered. The rational part of her knew, as Lily had said, that it was a stupid idea, but her other, more rebellious side, wanted to give her mother something to think about. Maybe then she'd be able to write a response back to her daughter that was actually decent. Plus, the firewhisky burned through her veins, making her whole body feel as though it was burning.

She took another swig of her drink. "Dar's right. Let's do it."

Darlene grinned, her face lighting up. "That's my girl! Let's goo!"

They stashed the empty bottles away, and waited a few minutes for Susan to come upstairs. The girl was easily fooled; Lily stated that they were going downstairs, and they did exactly that, traipsing down the winding staircase to the common room, where only a couple of students worked.

"Shall we just go?" Lily whispered. She'd finally come around to the idea after much persuading, and now her smile held the same excitement of the others.

"Yeah. No one will care, I'm sure."

And they were right; they snuck through the portrait hole with no one even batting an eyelid, despite the fact it was past midnight.

The school was silent and deserted as they stepped out into the chilly corridor, but it didn't feel unnerving with them all together. Addie was thankful for her woolly jumper, but still she nestled up to Lily as they traipsed to the kitchens.

They weren't far off, however, when they heard a noise. It wasn't very loud- just a faint crash as though someone had dropped something on the floor, but still the girls jumped, looking around at each other nervously.

"Where did that come from?" Marlene whispered, her eyes wide.

"I don't know." Lily looked pale. "But it sounded quite close."

"Uh-oh," Darlene stumbled, grabbing on to the nearest window-sill for support. Her cheeks had paled, and her usually-sparkling-brown eyes had dulled to a muddy grey colour. "I don't feel so good, guys." Addie sighed internally, but had to admit that the buzz she had had earlier had also begun to fade, and she too felt a bit dizzy.

Lily groaned, grabbing Darlene's arm to steady the wobbly girl. "Come on, let's just get to the kitchens before someone finds us."

They carried on walking- looking like a very strange group indeed: Marlene was tip-toing in front, glancing around nervously; Lily was practically dragging a stumbling Darlene; and Addie followed behind, somewhat queasily.

"We're nearly there." Marlene stated a few minutes later, her face breaking into a relieved smile. "We've just got to-"

But at that moment, she was cut off as a loud crashing rang through the walls, and the girls all turned with shock as they heard footsteps thundering towards them. Seconds later, Remus and Sirius came from around the corner, running as fast as they could. Then, right after them, James and Peter appeared from what seemed to be thin air, pulling a glistening sheet of material off themselves as they ran. The four girls stared, shell-shocked, and the marauders eyes widened as they too, spotted their fellow rule-breakers in the corridor. But then another pattering of feet came, and the distinct sound of Filch's cackle echoed around the corridor- "I've got you now, boys! Mark my words, this will be the last time you'll be able to slip away!"

James swore loudly. "Run!" he commanded, and they all followed without a second thought- even Darlene lumbered along, though a sheen of sweat had appeared on her forehead.

They ran, panting through the corridors, all the while hearing Filch's frantic feet behind then, until the Marauders thundered to a stop in front of an empty wall.

"What are you doing?" Lily hissed as James began to pace back and forth, his eyes squeezed shut. "Filch is right on our tail!"

"Just wait and see." Sirius replied. He looked to be rather enjoying himself as he leant against the wall, a handsome grin dancing across his features.

Addie glared at him. "I swear Black, if you're messing with us…"

He let out a bark-like laugh, his grey eyes glittering. "Relax, Reid, we have a plan."

And he was, it seemed, right. For at that moment, much to the girls' surprise, a huge oak door appeared in front of them. James opened his eyes, grinning, and pulled the door open. "After you." he said to a shell-shocked Lily, who assessed him with narrowed eyes before stalking into the room. He wasn't perturbed, however, and he followed her with laughter twinkling in his eyes. The others quickly followed suit, and Peter locked the door firmly behind them.

The four girls looked themselves with awe. The strange, hidden room was small but cosy, and looked pretty similar to the Gryffindor common room; the floor was covered in a plush red carpet, and snug armchairs were littered around, but instead of medieval portraits and old fashioned frames decorating the walls, there were photos of the marauders.

Addie walked along the edge of the wall, looking at the pictures as the four boys grinned and waved at her over and over again: There was one of Sirius and James racing on their broomsticks, both looking competitive as ever; James and Remus smiling at the camera with their arms around each other's shoulders; Remus laughing in the Three Broomsticks with a butterbeer moustache; Peter standing beside James and Sirius, grinning up at his best friends; Sirius on the Hogwarts train, lying across the seat with his legs resting on the glass window as he ate a cauldron cake; Peter scratching the head of a shaggy black dog; Sirius throwing his head back in laughter, sprinkles of snow glistening in his hair- there were ones with other people too; Lily and Marlene giggling next to a sleeping James, whose face now boasted a purple moustache; Frank beaming at the camera as Alice reached up to kiss him on the cheek; James giving a giggling Addie a piggy-back ride, as she clutched onto his neck for dear life; Alice and Susan squeezing Peter in a hug as his ears turned a dark shade of pink; and finally there was one of just Addie on her own, lying on the grass beside the first lake. She frowned as she looked at the picture. Remus had taken it back on that day when she'd nearly drowned, just after Hagrid had rescued her, she remembered. There she was, drying out in the sun and picking out bits of seaweed from her long dark hair, which was still damp. She'd been pissed off at Sirius for daring her to do it, so he'd spent the rest of the day trying to make her laugh- his way of saying sorry, she suspected. When Remus had snapped he picture on his camera, Sirius had just succeeded, and she watched as the girl in the photograph into a fit of laughter, her bright blue eyes lighting up- it seemed so long ago, before the rumours of war had started to spread, before everything had started to change, and she found herself, incredibly, feeling jealous at how happy she had been.

With a jump, she turned to see Remus standing behind her, a knowing smile on his face. "I remember taking that." he muttered, softly, looking at the moving image. "Seems like years ago."

She laughed, moving away from the wall. "It was years ago, Remus."

"You know what I mean." he replied, and she did know.

"So what do you think?" asked James, tugging her from her thoughts.

Addie smiled at him. "It's amazing." she told the grinning boy. "What is this place? How did you find it?"

"It's called the Room of Requirement." James explained, happily, "We found it in our second year when we started the-"

Obviously, he was going to share a secret, because Sirius chucked a book at him, silently warning him to shut up. James looked slightly awkward, scratching his head, but Marlene distracted him. "So, why is it here?" she asked quizzically, running her hand along one of the fraying sofas.

He shrugged. "We don't have a clue. Only thing we do know is that if you walk back and forth three ties, almost anything you want will appear."

"Really?" Lily looked fascinated at the prospect. "But how does it work? I've read about disappearing rooms in 'Hogwarts A History', but never ones that change depending on your needs."

"I think it's just one of the mysteries of Hogwarts." Remus said, with a smile.

"Anyway," Peter said, frowning, "what are you lot doing up?"

For the first the since bumping into the Marauders, the girls looked embarrassed.

"We had a bit to drink." Lily muttered, blushing. "And Dar persuaded us to sneak to the kitchens." She gestured to Darlene who was sat on the floor, still looking queasy from the run.

James raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Drinking? You lot?"

"Shut up James." Addie replied, rolling her eyes. "You've been supplying drinks to parties since fifth year."

"True." he admitted with a grin. "But how do you lot know where the kitchens are?"

"I know more than you give me credit for, Potter." Lily smirked, repeating the words he'd said to her.

He chuckled warmly. "I'm sure you do."

"What I want to know," Darlene interrupted, "is what that thing was that you appeared out of?"

Sirius frowned, puzzled. "What thing?"

"I don't know- but James and Peter seemed to just appear from thin air."

"Oh." Realisation dawned on the boys, and they glanced at each other.

Addie laughed. "I get the feeling that that's a conversation for another time, Dar."

Darlene smirked. "I thought so."

And just at that moment, she threw up all over the floor.

It was late by the time they got back to the Gryffindor common room, and they were all exhausted. Peter had quickly led Darlene to the toilet, (which apparently had been used many timed by the boys on their drunken nights out exploring the castle), and when she finally felt better, they headed back. Unfortunately for the marauders, they also had to return through the corridors uncovered, since James had quickly stashed the invisibility cloak behind an armchair when they entered the Room of Requirement- but they all managed to return to their beds without getting caught, (again), by Filch.

Over the next couple of days, once they'd all recovered, Addie thought about the marauders hiding place, and how they'd kept it secret for so long. It seemed somewhat strange for them, since James and Sirius had never really been modest when it came to their accomplishments- well never in class anyway, but in a way, it made her happy. Knowing that those four stupid pranksters cared so much about their friends and each other- truly cared- was nice, to say the least.

And for some strange reason, she couldn't get those pictures out of her mind- especially the one which reminded her so vividly of that day by the lake- for she knew that things would never go back to how they were.