"The very best of evenings to you!" Professor Dumbledore stood before us at the Headmaster's Podium, as the Sorting had just finished. "To our new students- welcome! To our old students, welcome back! Another year full of magical education awaits you!"
"Those wishing to play for their House Quidditch teams should give their names to their Heads of House as usual."
"Though we are most grieved to have lost Professor Elgar due to ill health, we are pleased to welcome a new member of staff this year, Professor Seymour, who has agreed to come aboard our staff as Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor."
"Ill health?" Dorcas wondered, tucking her longer hair behind her ear. "Can't believe Elgar could fall ill. He seemed healthy as a hippogriff all year long last year, even when the other Professors caught the flu. I mean, he certainly seemed in top shape as he non-verbally cursed the bejeezus out of all of us fifth years."
"Yeah, that is weird," I agreed.
"But you never know with illnesses," Lily said seriously. "Sometimes, it's not about how healthy you normally are."
"But now," Dumbledore spread out his arms warmly, "your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say good night. Pip pip!"
The benches scraped against the stone floor as they were pushed back and all the students rose as one from the tables in the Great Hall.
"Sirius!" Marlene embraced him tightly and leaned in to kiss him.
"Hello, Lily flower, it's been far too long since I've graced you with my presence," James winked at Lily, who looked disgusted and instead turned away to Remus.
"Hello, Lily. Shall we show the first years up?" Remus greeted her civilly. Lily smiled at him and nodded. Behind me, Peter, Dorcas, and Alice chatted about N.E.W.T.s.
And I found myself, once again, back to square one. The way neither James nor Sirius spared me a single glance, it was like this entire summer had never happened.
"Ms. Kingsley!" Professor McGonagall called to me through the crowd of people all moving to get to their dormitories, "if I could have a word with you!"
"Yes, Professor!" I fought past the crowd of people and managed to reach her, feeling nervous. Has something happened to Jamie? Or did I do something wrong?
She led me to her office and once I had sat down, she explained, "I have been asked to discuss your course schedule with you now, as your intended profession requires rather unusual classes."
"Now, I see that your O.W.L. grades allow you to take a very wide range of classes. I'm very pleased, I must say. Now, your class schedule for the next two years will be very unique. Wand-making requires a knowledge of synthesis. Thus, while most of your classmates will continue their sixth year classes into seventh year, you are recommended to take a different array of subjects at sixth-year level during your seventh year, excluding, of course, your core classes. Have you had any thought about your preferred classes this year?"
I hadn't.
Twenty minutes later, she handed me a schedule with classes, times, and instructors.
Wandlore- Ollivander
Magical Theory- Flitwick
Legilimency/Occulumency – Dumbledore
Alchemy- Slughorn
Dark Arts- Seymour
Transfiguration- McGonagall
History of Magic- Binns
Ancient Runes- Maudrick
"Professor Dumbledore?" I said in disbelief. "I'll be taking a class with Professor Dumbledore? And Mr. Ollivander as well?"
"Yes, your Wandlore, Legilimency/Occulumency, and Dark Arts classes will be private lessons strictly observed by Mr. Ollivander, Professor Dumbledore, and Professor Seymour. Take note that your lesson with Ollivander is in Diagon Alley once a week. You will be traveling with Floo Powder through my office fireplace and the Leaky Cauldron's fireplace as you are not yet of legal age for Apparition."
"Your classes will be difficult this year, but I think you will find them immensely rewarding," Professor McGonagall said to me. "Any questions?"
"No questions, Professor, but I think you should know that I won't be trying out for the Quidditch team this year," I said ashamedly.
Professor McGonagall paused and then she replied, "Very well. That is unfortunate, but it seems it cannot be helped."
I looked up at her, startled. She's not angry? Professor McGonagall smiled sadly at my look of incredulity "The look on your face, Ms. Kingsley, tells me there is no need to reprimand you. You are living your punishment already. Now, off to bed, your lessons begin early tomorrow morning. Oh, and that's right- Gryffindor password- geezers's knobbly knees. Meant to insult the old wizard four paintings down, I think."
The next morning started off the first day of classes, and as everyone else was getting their course schedules, James approached me.
"So, I'm feeling the pressure to inherit the mad tradition of being the first Quidditch team to hit the practice field. I've got my schedule and I think try-outs should be this Wednesday afternoon. You game?" he asked me.
I shook my head and said quietly, "I won't be trying out this year."
James' impeccably happy hair seemed to wilt a little as he stared at me, his mouth slightly open.
"You're not serious?" James said.
"Sorry," I mumbled, and grabbed my bag and left for class.
As predicted, not very many people were insane enough to take N.E.W.T. History of Magic. Over the course of five years, most people understood the definition of boredom well enough to avoid this class.
The group was compromised of only eleven people- four Hufflepuffs: Thomas Abbott, George Bones, Callie Taylor, and Amos Diggory; three Ravenclaws: Xenophilius Lovegood, Athena Cross, and Jay Salinger; three Gryffindors: Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, and myself; and one Slytherin: Audrey Zena.
When Professor Binns assigned us our seats, Lily and Remus were together and I was besides Audrey. Lily shot me a sympathetic look.
I took my seat. Predictably, the hazy morning light lazily drifting through the glass window immediately made my mind curl up into a sleeping position.
"In 1777, the wizard Egbert the Egregious slaughtered Emeric the Evil in a ferocious duel… " Professor Binns read without the slightest change in tone.
"Why the bloody hell are we here again?" Audrey muttered to me, putting his chin in his palm and his eyelids already beginning to fall.
"You tell me," I replied quietly.
There were no more words between us, but both of us felt comfortable there, sitting beside each other in drowsy morning sunlight, and that was enough.
"Blood was shed as the two fought over an alleged Wand of Destiny..."
Class ended with a bang when Audrey's elbow slipped off the edge of the desk and he smacked his face right into his desk. Professor Binns, without ever looking up from his hands, closed his notes and walked away. Even Binns looked sleepier than usual as he half-consciously made his way out the door. I guess that was his way of letting us know we were truly N.E.W.T students now.
On the other hand, in Transfiguration, Zayne, who had scraped an E, (though, he had admitted to me that when his opera glasses began to spontaneously combust before his very eyes during the practical exam, he pretended to drop them and 'accidentally' stepped on them, stomping out the flames) greeted me with the utmost exuberance.
"Ray!" he said happily. "We're here. Who'd've thunk it? N.E.W.T Transfiguration! Us!"
Professor McGonagall turned to reprimand whoever was shouting so loudly but when her eyes fell on us at that moment saw the pair of us, her mouth fell slightly open and she forget to reprimand us as her mind cooked up all the different possibilities of how Transfiguration could go terribly, flamboyantly wrong this year.
I saw her lips move. It looked very much like she was saying, "Merlin help me."
I smiled. "Look." I tapped Zayne's arm and pointed at Professor McGonagall. "I think she's very pleased to see us, isn't she?"
I met Alice, who had just finished washing up after Herbology and we went down to lunch together, where we assumed the other three girls would already be.
As our staircase disconnected and slid to the right, we stepped down behind four people already waiting on the intermediary moving staircase.
"Mate, she's not going to do it," one of the boys was saying. "So, I think you shouldplay Seeker. We don't need her. The team will be fine without her. I mean, she's-"
One of the boys casually looked behind him, and we both gave a start when we recognized each other.
"Hello, Alice, Raylynx," Remus said quite abruptly, cutting off who could only be Sirius Black speaking.
"Oh, h-hello," Alice said, surprised at his greeting.
I looked down at Sirius, who was still about my height despite the fact that he was a couple steps down. He didn't turn around, though he tensed when he heard my name.
"Raylynx?" Remus asked.
My eyes never left Sirius' back as I replied to Remus, "Hey, Lupin."
"Moony, come on," Sirius said shortly, and pulled him off the staircase towards the Great Hall.
After dinner, Marlene and I had a free period to ourselves while Lily, Dorcas, and Alice had Astronomy. We started to head up the stairs when a seventh-year Ravenclaw slammed into me. My bag went flying off my shoulder and I nearly fell backwards.
"Hey, watch it! Someone's walking there, if you haven't noticed," Marlene said angrily.
The Ravenclaw girl looked at me with furious eyes and spat at me, "You watch it, Kingsley. It's because of your brother that my father's still in St. Mungo's. I expect he's still having the time of his life, flying around on his pathetic broomstick. I hope the hex hits him properly next time."
She passed me and after kicking my bag against the wall, disappeared down the staircase and out of sight.
I closed my eyes.
"Raylynx?" Marlene used my full name, her voice echoing the worry she felt inside.
I opened my eyes and blew out a breath before I walked over and picked up my book bag. "C'mon, Marlene, let's go up."
"But why was she like that?" Marlene asked me. "I know your brother hasn't woken up yet, but…"
"My parents asked the press to keep quiet, so nobody knows he's still… asleep. Most people assume that he's playing Quidditch again. And when he was attacked, so were a lot of the Muggle-born spectators. Her father must have been one of them," I explained quickly, knowing I owed Marlene an explanation but not particularly keen on talking about this topic.
"That's still completely out of order, though. What a stupid girl. You all right?" Marlene asked me and her eyes were truly concerned as she watched me carefully.
"'Course," I replied and then with an attempt at a smile, I said to Marlene, "Don't be so worried, it's unlike you, and it's starting to make me feel anxious."
"Yeah, well, maybe it's because I'm feeling anxious too," Marlene responded and to the Fat Lady, she said, "Geezer's knobbly knees."
We sat down at a table in a fairly empty common room.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Why're you anxious?"
Marlene shrugged and replied casually, "Sirius."
I waited for her to elaborate but she didn't. Finally, I unwillingly probed, "Sirius?" His name tasted bitter on my tongue.
"You and me, Kingsley, we are not the same. Don't pretend like you know anything about me."
"We don't need her. The team will be fine without her. I mean, she's-"
"We don't really talk much. I feel like the excitement's gone out." Her voice was still carelessly casual, but she wouldn't look at me and she was fidgeting with her knee.
"Did something happen?" I asked. I really didn't want to hear about their relationship, much less anything about Sirius, but I was, first and foremost, Marlene's close friend and if it helped her to listen to whatever she had to say, well then, I was glad for it.
"No, not that I know of," she answered quickly.
"Can't you just talk to him, then?" I suggested.
"No," she replied, almost scornfully. "That would be the same as admitting I'm not good enough for him."
Before I could express my confusion, the common room door opened and the Marauders except Peter tumbled in, laughing gleefully. Upon spotting us, they came over.
"Oh, have you got a free period right now as well?" Sirius said to Marlene.
"Yes, I told you that this morning," Marlene said, a little defensively.
"Sorry, was a bit preoccupied this morning," Sirius said, still grinning. "Set-up was quite elaborate today. Peter even fell out of the window, got knocked right in the face by the grandfather clock, but he's all right, just a bit scraped. Getting fixed up by Pomfrey right now."
"Yeah, poor Pete, but he'll be all right, and it's all well worth it, it is," James said, satisfaction evident on his face. "Although it's a shame Evans is in Astronomy, I have a feeling she won't be too pleased with me when she walks out of class."
"Nor will Amanda, she's in Astronomy, too. But she'll just write to my mother again, and I really couldn't care less about dear ol' Mum anymore," Sirius snorted.
"Amanda?" Marlene asked, her voice a little sharp, a little skeptical.
"Yeah, Amanda Faith, pureblood Slytherin, our year. She's my- or was- my betrothed", Sirius explained.
"What!" Marlene said in disbelief. "Betrothed?"
"Yeah, stupid pureblood tradition," Sirius muttered.
"Since when?" Marlene demanded.
Remus and I shot each other worried looks. Marlene was obviously upset.
"Since we were five?" Sirius mused. "Something like that. Anyways-"
"And you never told me?" Marlene interjected.
"Why would I tell you?" Sirius asked, starting to frown a little.
"Because I'm your girlfriend," Marlene replied, slightly sarcastic.
"Yeah, but I didn't really give any weight to the thought of arranged marriage, so why should you?" Sirius said.
Marlene bit her lip, unable to reply, but still slightly upset. An awkward silence ensued in which James was watching Sirius and Marlene with a slightly opened mouth.
"So," I said suddenly, trying to diffuse some of the tension, "what'd you guys do to the Arithmancy corner?"
"Collapsed some bookcases and that grandfather clock into nice white sand and maximized a derivation of the Aguamenti spell and you get yourself a right nice beach… that you have to cross over to get anywhere else", James replied, grinning again.
"James," I chided in an almost-Lily-like manner, but I couldn't keep myself from giving away the slightest smile.
"Is that a smile I see?" James teased. "It is, huh? You actually think it's a pretty good prank. You can't fool me, Ray. I've got you all figured out."
I did actually think it was a very funny prank, but I was never going to admit that.
"Lupin, aren't you a prefect?" I said instead, trying to keep my face severe.
"Well, yes," Remus answered. "But it's a part-time job, you see. For the other part-time-"
"Our Remus Elizabeth Lupin is a Marauder," Sirius said loudly, beaming, and he reached over and ruffled Remus' hair, "and an excellent one at that."
Remus simply looked at Sirius with a bemused expression. "Elizabeth?"
"C'mon, let's go wash up," Sirius replied. "Marlene, listen, I'll see you at dinner, okay?'
Marlene nodded emotionlessly. "Yeah, all right."
The boys trooped up and just in time, too, as Lily stomped into the common room just then, with sand sparkling in her hair and her robes wet and she bellowed, "Potter!"
James came down, not in the least abashed, but glowing with happiness at the fact that he had been summoned by his beloved Lily.
"Potter," Lily spat. "A word, please."
"Oh, of course you can have a word, Lily flower," James said, beaming. "In fact, you can have several."
Lily was murderous.
