First Year; October 31st

Emilia Winston spent her first two months at Hogwarts almost completely alone. She had made no friends, but didn't particularly mind at the time. She had enough homework as it was, anyway. Plus, being a muggleborn, she had a lot to catch up on. So she spent the first few weeks amazed with everything she was learning, from spells to potions, and even to how the food magically reappeared on the table at the Great Hall. It was amazing to her how she could have missed all this. How anyone could miss all this!

It wasn't until the end of October that she realized she had missed out on one of the best parts of Hogwarts: the other wizards and witches her age. But, at the age of eleven, she wasn't exactly the definition of 'social' or 'outgoing'. So she did what she did best, throw the occasional polite smile in hopes of someone approaching her, like in the books she loved to read.

Of course, it didn't go how she planned. She certainly hadn't planned to be approached while stuffing delicious food into her mouth.

It was The Halloween Feast, and she was damn excited. If she loved Halloween as an everyday muggle, then she was sure she would adore it as the newfound witch she was.

Thank God she hadn't pulled out one of her vampire costumes, because that would have been embarrassing, seeing as everyone was wearing their normal uniform. As she followed the rest of her class down the ever-changing labyrinth of stairs, she couldn't help but be a tad bit disappointed. She was expecting costumes and candy, not a speech from the Headmaster. But they had all been called to the Great Hall, and Emilia was no one to argue with that.

Suddenly, she heard laughter from ahead, and she jumped up, trying to get a view over the rest of the crowd. Frustrated, but not about to give up, she pushed her way through to the front, and let out a loud giggle. Peeves had gone all out. Even Nearly Headless Nick was helping him, by… well, being nearly headless by the entrance. The corridor had been covered in some type of magical slime that changed colors: from green, to orange, to black, to red, to purple. The rest of the ghosts were flying quickly from one side to another, and one of them had just flown through one of her unsuspecting classmates, causing the laughter. Peeves was laughing like a maniac, throwing exploding candy all around the corridor, causing bursts of lights to appear everywhere. Occasionally, the sparks would take the form of a bat and fly around the room before exploding and disappearing like the rest of them.

It was amazing.

With a loud pop, a bag of sweets appeared in everyone's pockets. Emilia was in awe. To think she had dared to feel disappointed barely a minute ago. She followed everyone to the Great Hall, stepping over slime and sweets scattered on the floor.

When she stepped inside, once again her mouth dropped open. It looked stunning. Carved Pumpkins where floating between the candles that were usually there, and the tables were completely filled with Halloween themed food. She couldn't imagine ever being able to eat enough of it.

She sat down at the long Gryffindor table, and immediately began piling food on her plate. She stopped with a groan when she heard the Headmaster clear his throat at the front of the Hall. He held up a hand, signaling for a pause in conversation.

"I see everyone is quite excited," he started, looking around with twinkling eyes. "I will allow us to return to our food, but first I would like to thank our very own Peeves for making this year's feast as exciting as ever with his touch of mayhem. His dedication to trouble-making is remarkable, and something to be acknowledged. Now, as I'm sure you all know, the sixth and seventh year Halloween Ball will take place tonight at 9 pm, and Professor McGonagall has asked me to remind you that fifth years will not be allowed at the ball, and she will be particularly strict about strays this year. Without further ado, let the feast begin."

Dumbledore turned and immediately the talking resumed loudly, and Emilia kept piling food on her plate. She couldn't decide what else she might want, since everything looked so delicious. She grabbed a couple of chocolate frogs and set them beside her plate for later. As she grabbed her fork and stuffed her mouth with mashed potatoes, she became aware of two voices on either side of her talking back and forth.

"She sure does eat a lot."

"That she does, mate. That she does."

"You reckon she'll eat all that?"

"If she does, I've got competition."

Emilia sat up straighter and arched an eyebrow, looking back and fourth between them. As she chewed, she took in the spectacled boy on her right, who was now grinning sheepishly at her, his jet black hair sticking up in several directions from the hand he had just ran through it. To her right, a taller boy was casually straddling the seat beside her and was smirking at her challengingly, his black wavy hair falling over one of his grey eyes as he cocked his head to the side at her.

With some difficulty, she finally swallowed and set her hands on her hips. "Excuse me?"

The boy with the glasses stuck his hand out at her, "James Potter." She shook his hand, eyeing him carefully. "And that's Sirius. He eats a lot."

She stuck her other hand out to him and Sirius shook it, grinning at her. "Hello…?"

"Emilia."

"Emilia!" he said loudly, as if testing the word out. "I like it. So Ems –can I call you Ems? –you sure eat a lot. Care to engage in some friendly competition?"

Emilia stared at the two boys, and then down at her hands still awkwardly clasped in theirs. Her mind immediately went to the books she read, and she let out a small snort. This would most definitely not happen in any of them.

Nevertheless, she smirked up at Sirius, shaking his hand firmly once more. "It's on."

First Year; November 19th

"What are you even doing to that poor owl?"

Emilia jumped, startled, causing the owl to peck her finger and fly back to it's cage with a loud screech. She turned to flash him an annoyed look, slipping the letter into the pocket of her school robes. "I'm just trying to send a letter… on an owl…"

James walked over to stand beside her, looking out over the castle grounds. "Well, with how you were abusing that poor creature…"

Emilia smacked his shoulder, pouting. "I've never had to tie a letter to an owls foot, James."

He simply laughed, motioning for the letter with his hand. "Give it here, my dad taught me ages ago."

Emilia fetched the letter from her robe, handing it to him. He turned it over, reading the name on the front. "Maxxie? Who's Maxxie?"

Emilia sighed, turning back to lean on the railing. "My older brother. I promised I'd update him as soon as possible, and it's already November. He's going to kill me."

James grinned, poking her side. "Update, eh? Did you write about me in here?"

Emilia laughed, blushing slightly. "Of course I did, you, Sirius and even Remus; you're my friends. I even added one of the pictures we took after the competition. I don't have one with Remus though…"

James walked over to one of the cages, and a gray owl hooted at him. He took a treat from one of the jars next to it, feeding it to the owl before calling Emilia over. "Look, you tie the string to the letter like this," he demonstrated, looping the string around it several times before making some type of loop at the top. "The owl should hold it's foot out when you're ready—they're pretty clever like that. And you loop it, pull it tight—not that tight! Yes, just like that. There you go!"

Emilia smiled at him, grateful, "Thanks, James."

"Yup."

They stood there in comfortable silence for a few minutes, staring after the owl that flew off with her letter. She wouldn't have imagined herself being such good friends with James, but it worked, especially with Sirius in the mix. Every morning since they had first met she would walk down to the common room at exactly the same time, and she found James waiting for her. They would go to breakfast, and when they were about to leave, Sirius would run in, ruffle her hair, grab a piece of toast, and run back out ahead of them, eternally late. With Sirius it was always loud, but with James, she would allow her mind to wander, and he didn't seem to mind. They understood each other without really saying much, somehow. There was something comforting about their relationship, something different.

And then there was Remus. There was something about him she couldn't quite understand. It was as if he was constantly there, just not completely. As if he was holding himself back. It wasn't that she didn't like him or anything, she did, but she didn't know him as well. Sirius and James seemed to like him good enough, and they hung out with him when she wasn't around, she knew. Admittedly, she was mostly always around. But she didn't quite understand him. He was funny, in a know-it-all kind of way—that much she knew. He wasn't always around them, she noticed he liked to spend time reading and studying.

She was happy, she realized as she thought about her newfound friends. James, Sirius, even Remus, they all made her happy. She had started out that year with no one but herself, and she hadn't realized she even needed anyone else until James and Sirius had approached her. After becoming such fast friends though, she had no idea what she would do without them.

James looked at her sideways, curious. "What?"

She had't even realized it, but she was smiling. "Nothing, just thinking."

"Completely spaced out, love."

"Oh, shut up," she giggled, blushing slightly.

James laughed and slid down to the floor of the owlery, stretching his legs out in fornt of him. He patted the space next to him, and Emilia threw him a disgusted expression, eyeing the feathers and dirt cautiously.

James laughed and reached up to pull her down by the arm, "Come on, Ems, a little dirty never hurts."

"Easy for you to say, you dirty beast."

He rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses further up his nose and pouting. "That hurt," he whispered, and then paused before grinning widely. "All better now, I recover quickly."

"Funny, Potter."

"You love me," he smiled, poking her side. He paused for a few seconds, before looking at her again. "So why your brother?"

"Huh?"

"You said you were writing your brother," he explained matter-of-factly. "So why him and not your parents?"

Emilia frowned, having forgotten how observant James was for an eleven year old boy. "My dad left when I was little, and mum works a lot, so I write to him and he keeps her updated. They write me back together."

He nodded, taking it in. She waited, expecting him to ask her about her dad, but nothing came, and she was thankful. She didn't exactly know what had happened –her mom said she'd someday understand –but she didn't like talking about it either.

They fell into comfortable silence, and she smiled slightly, laying her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. She felt James shift slightly, getting comfortable, and after a few minutes, she could feel his breathing even out and a few snores escape his lips.

She was definitely happy at Hogwarts so far, she thought, and felt herself drift off as well into dreamless sleep.

First Year; November 27th

Emilia met Peter in her first year, when she was partnered with him in a Potions assignment. She hadn't really noticed him before that, since after becoming James and Sirius' friend she felt she was pretty much set on the friends base, but after a couple of classes she found they instantly clicked.

"Honestly Peter, your technique is awful," Emilia said one afternoon. They were mixing in ingredients for the potion they were brewing for their assignment.

"Hey! You're no professional either," Peter said, the tips of his ears turning pink. After a few days, he had learned to answer her comments, which she began throwing at him as she got more comfortable. At first, she was pretty shy, just like him, but once they got talking, her attitude shone threw.

"Yeah well, it's still a lot better than yours, that's for sure."

Peter rolled his eyes, adjusting his grip on his wand and adding in a troll hair. He still had trouble getting used to the idea of anyone actually liking him, as she seemed to. Even before Hogwarts, he had always been a loner, being picked on by his so called 'friends'. But now, even at eleven, he decided he wouldn't take any of it anymore, although it didn't mean much if he didn't have anyone to defend himself from in the first place.

Which is why he was ecstatic when Emilia asked him if he would like to have lunch with her, James and Sirius later that same day.

"But he's weird!"

"Well you're no charmer yourself."

"We've never even talked to him!"

"Well, now's your chance," Emilia answered, crossing her arms with a sense of finality. She didn't understand why they were being so pig headed about Peter sitting with them at lunch, but she was having none of it. "And guess what? I've been his partner for almost two weeks now, and he's lovely. So get over yourselves and be nice, both of you."

She watched as James huffed, pulling the hangings around his bed. "How dramatic," she muttered, turning to Sirius, who was standing in front of the mirror, doing something to his hair. "Are you going into hiding too?"

"No, my face is much too pretty for that," he grinned. "And anyway, we'd talk eventually because he bloody sleeps with us, might as well get it over with a lovely lunch or whatever."

Peter walked over to where Emilia, Sirius and James were sitting, suddenly regretting everything. Why did he have to go and change everything by opening his stupid mouth.

The three of them turned to look at him as he approached, and self conscious was an understatement. He felt his chubby cheeks warm up, and he internally cursed. At this rate, he would make a fool of himself and Emilia would no longer give him the time of the day.

"Peter!" Emilia called, turning her body towards him on the bench. She patted the space beside her, grinning.

"Hello," he said, awkwardly sliding onto the bench.

He looked up at Sirius and James, who were staring at him with a blank expression. "Hello, Peter," they answered at the same time, which in all honestly was extremely creepy.

Peter looked uncomfortably at Emilia, who gave an encouraging nod. He shifted in his seat, and decided the safest thing to do was begin to eat. At least if he had food in his mouth he wouldn't be able to say anything stupid, so he began piling mashed potato's on his plate.

"So, Peter, what does a lad like you get up to in his spare time?"

Peter looked between James and Sirius, wide- eyed, before looking at Emilia, who shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Um..."

"Knock it off, you two."

"Aw, come on Ems—"

"Peter told me he used to play a lot of pranks before coming here," Emilia interjected, narrowing her eyes at both of them. Peter wanted to laugh at how motherly she looked for an eleven year old.

Sirius and James turned to look at him eagerly, and he shrugged slightly. "My, erm, friends… Well, not really my friends, but… um, yes you could call them—

"Go on," James interrupted, smiling slightly.

Peter nodded quickly, "They would tease me sometimes, so in return I would play silly pranks on them. Nothing big, things like their chairs falling under them or the faucet exploding in their face, and they didn't know it was me but… yeah," he finished awkwardly, looking down at his plate. He just had to go and say he used to be teased. This was definitely going horribly.

Sirius let out a bark of laughter, and Peter cringed, preparing himself to be made fun of. Instead, he reached over the table, slapping his arm, "That's brilliant!"

Peter blinked, "I-It is?"

"I did that to my so called cousins," Sirius answered, nodding. "They had it coming. And so did your friends if they were teasing you, right? Make them pay."

"Gotta give 'em hell, eh?" James winked at him, and Peter slowly grinned at them.

Now that idea he liked.

First Year; December 16th

Lily Evans first talked to Emilia during her first year, the day before they left for Christmas break. She had seen her around with Potter and Black, and in the dorms of course, but she had never actually spoken to her.

She had been packing, along with the rest of the first year girls, because she would be going home for Christmas. She was excited, wanting nothing more than to see her parents again, but also feeling a pang of sadness leaving Hogwarts, even for such a short period of time.

Sighing, she began folding her clothes into neat piles before piling them inside her trunk. She had added an expansion charm she had learned a couple of weeks ago, so she didn't have to worry about not being able to fit everything.

After a couple of minutes, grumbling coming from the bed next to hers caused her to look over. A jet-black haired girl was mumbling under her breath, pointing her wand at her trunk.

"Bloody Potter..."

Lily quirked an eyebrow, setting her things down. "Need help?"

The girl looked up, her blue eyes widening slightly. "Um, okay... You're Lily right?"

Lily smiled at her, extending her hand. "Lily Evans. Emily right?"

"Emilia, actually."

"Oh, sorry. I've seen you around with... Potter, and Sirius."

She watched as the girl stiffened slightly and looked down at her trunk, her hair covering her face in the process. "James is my friend, so is Sirius."

Lily blushed, embarrassed. She hadn't meant to offend her, she just didn't understand how she liked them, especially Potter. As far as she could tell, he liked to make fun of people for no reason. He had certainly teased her endlessly on the train ride to Hogwarts. Lily had tried to make him stop, but every time she told him to, he would grin at her and make her even angrier. "Why?"

Emilia seemed surprised by the question, eyeing her curiously. Then she shrugged, "I won an eating competition," she said simply.

Lily frowned, biting her lip in thought. She liked her. The way she immediately stuck up for Potter, even though she barely tolerated him, was a good sign in her mind. Not many people would, after all. She pointed her wand at Emilia's trunk. "Need help?"

"Yes," she answered immediately, then rolled her eyes. "James said he'd help me with the expansion charm but of course he's off doing God knows what with Sirius and I'm not really getting anywhere-"

With a quick flick and a low mutter, Lily grinned at her. "You're muggleborn too."

"Too?"

"So am I," Lily said proudly, grinning. After a second of thought, she deflated. "Although Severus says it's not exactly a good thing."

She watched as Emilia's eyes darkened, "That's not true. Snape is mean."

Of course she knew him. It seemed all Potter could do was taunt him around her. Lily sighed, running a hand threw her hair. "He's not what he seems. He's a good person."

"I bet he is."

Silence took over the dorm, and Lily wasn't sure she liked her that much anymore. On the other hand, she had already pushed so many people away like that, defending Severus. It wasn't her fault he acted different around her, and it wasn't her job to try to make other people see him through her eyes. He didn't even try.

Emilia's voice broke her train of thought. "How did you know I was a muggleborn?

Lily grinned, "You said "God knows where" instead of Merlin, which is strange around here, I've noticed."

Emilia giggled, "Merlin sounds very strange."

"I imagine we'll get used to it."

They looked at each other for a few seconds, seemingly deciding something. Emilia smiled shyly, tugging a strand of her hair. Lily grinned at her, then turned back to her trunk and pulled something out. "Fancy some sweets?"

Emilia's smile widened at the sight of the Three Musketeers chocolate bars, and she pulled some of her own from the stash by her trunk, sitting crossed leg on the floor and spreading them out in front of her. "Let's eat."

Sixth Year; January 5th

Sirius Black never really looked at her twice. She was just his best friend. It was simple, from the beginning. They had a competition and he won, and since then they became instant best friends. Endless debates about who had won that initial competition, James insisting it was a tie, and them simply lounging on the sofa in the common room with the rest of the marauders and Lily were what made them friends. They clicked. She balanced him out, and he helped her reach her full potential when she brought herself down. It was just so simple.

During sixth year, Emilia dated a bloke named Harrison from Slytherin. He asked her out after they shared a New Years kiss, and at first she wasn't going to say yes.

"Come on," Sirius said, rolling over and poking her side. He and Emilia were sprawled out on the floor of the boy's dormitory surrounded by various books and parchment. The rest of the marauders where on their respective beds, studying. "If you don't say yes, I'm giving up on girls all together."

Emilia raised an eyebrow, looking at him sideways. James, who was sitting on his bed reading, looked up and laughed. "Maybe you shouldn't then, Ems."

"Oh, shut up, Prongs," Sirius said, chucking his quill at him. "I'm serious –don't you dare say it—"

"We know you are," Peter whispered, poking his head out from around the bed hangings.

"Bloody hell," Sirius groaned, burying his head into the pillow next to him. He stayed like that for a few seconds before looking up and rubbing a hand over his face. "As I was saying, I think you should say yes to that Harrison bloke, even though he's a Slytherin."

Remus laughed, "Very mature of you, Pads."

Emilia cleared her throat loudly, "Excuse me, do I have a say in this?"

"No."

"The fact that we swapped saliva for a night—"

"Ew."

"You did more than that…"

"—does NOT mean I suddenly feel like going out on a bleeding date with him! And Lily agrees," she added for James' sake, who's eyes brightened immediately.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You never know, Ems. What if he's like… I dunno, your other half or something?"

He received four blank stares, "What?"

"Why are you so set on me dating him anyway? You barely even know him. I barely even know him!"

Sirius rolled over once more, staring at the ceiling. He thought it would be good for her, having some kind of serious relationship. Everyone knew what he got up to, and he didn't mind, but he could tell all her meaningless broom cupboard encounters, however many less than his, where starting to get to her. "He seems nice, for a snake."

Emilia scoffed, "Wow, reassuring."

"Look," Sirius said, looking at her seriously. He didn't know why he was trying so hard, but he felt he had to try. "All I'm saying is you should give him a chance. And if not him, someone else."

A/N: I decided to upload this right away because the prologue is extremely short. So here you go. The whole story won't be formatted like this, with the dates and all. I just wanted to show how they all met and a couple of scenes I thought showed the dynamics between Emilia and everyone else. Does that make sense? Oh well. Please review so I know I'm headed in the right direction. Or wrong direction, that's cool too.

Until next chapter (which is written btw)

Nicole xx