(A/N): Hey Guys! So, this is chapter seventy-seven! I never thought I'd write a story this long! I mean, I planned stories, but I was like, oh yeah, it won't take that long, there will only be like, thirty chapters in the entire story...This story is more than thirty chapters per year! This is the longest story I've ever written by 40 or 50,000 words!

Next Chapter: Angst Alert!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Leo, Elaine, Nicholai, Shari and Mia.

Remus

Today was the second day of trials for the Wizards Chess tournament. Since I had passed the first day, I didn't need to play today, but it was kind of fun sitting in the Great Hall, watching the hopeful competitors battle each other using wit and skill. On each of the three days of trials, three sets of twelve students would verse each other. Those who wished to compete, came up on the first day and were numbered, one hundred and eight competitors in total, including me. Each day then, only eighteen would continue, having won their first game against an opponent also trying to make it through. If they won, they got a token, if they lost, they got to make snarky comments while booing the winners. Oh, wait, no, that's just the Slytherins. Everyone else were actually behaving, cheering on friends, or even those they competed against, towards the glory awaiting the winner at the end of the tournament. One of the competitors today, I recognised as a girl in the year above us with wavy black hair tied back in a loose bun, her pale green eyes studying the chess board in front of her with great concentration.

"Who's that?" Elaine asked, seeing me watching her, and I shrugged lightly before Leo, who had been standing behind us, answered quietly.

"Brooke Sarne, she's in the year above us. She lives with her dad, and her mother died when she was eight." We paused for a second, before turning around to look at him slowly.

"You know this how?" I asked, and he shrugged, a small, somewhat smug smile on his lips.

"She sat with me on the train at the start of Christmas Break." We stared at him again.

"And she told you all that? The first time you met her?"

He shook his head, looking at us now, instead of her. "No, I met her last year, when we were trying to avoid the others, and I flew Dams out of her dorm room."

I glanced at Elaine, who shrugged. "I didn't meet her."

He shook his head lightly, biting his lip as if amused. "No, before I went to your window. I didn't know which one was the first year girls dorm, so I just knocked on a window." I sighed, thinking about just how wrong that could have gone.

"Oh, I don't know, I'd say the first year girls' dorm would be the first one!" Elaine growled at him, and he shrugged again, unfazed by her anger.

"Well, I'm sorry, it was five in the morning, I wasn't exactly thinking properly." He retorted, and I rolled my eyes.

"Hence the broom trick." I muttered, and his lips quirked up.

"Hence the broom trick." He agreed, and I remembered something I had heard a while back.

"Isn't she one of the girls who fancies you?"

Elaine's eyes widened, and Leo shrugged, making a face as if both annoyed and disinterested. "Go screw yourself, Moony." Was the usual response, before he actually answered. "She said I was cute, once." Elaine's eyebrows lowered, and I could see her glaring at Brooke from across the Great Hall.

"I don't like her." Well, that's not very surprising.

"Why not?" Leo asked curiously, puzzled, and Elaine's eyes widened slightly as she realised she'd said that out loud.

"Uh... she's... mean?"

Leo stared at her for a minute before shaking his head. "Okay, whatever then." He said, letting the matter drop, and Elaine breathed a quiet sigh of relief, even though she knew Leo would be able to hear it.

"Hey, guys." Lily greeted as she approached, and we all waved, muttering a few hello's in return.

"Morning, Lils." Leo scooted over, allowing her a place to sit.

"So, what's the score?" There wasn't really a score per say, but we knew what she meant.

"Ravenclaw beat Hufflepuff," I started, before her resulting scoff cut me off.

"Not really a surprise."

I cleared my throat, warning her against interrupting again. "Slytherin beat Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff beat Gryffindor, and Gryffindor is currently beating Slytherin." With the last one, I pointed to Brooke, the focal point of our earlier conversation, who was beating the Slytherin girl she was versing into the ground.

"Well at least we're beating someone." Lily muttered, and Leo scooted over more as James, Sirius, and Peter arrived.

"Anything exciting?"

We shrugged. "Just chess-" Sirius cut me off, leaning back on the bench, hands behind his head.

"Oh, so nothing then?" I frowned at him, before turning back to observing the matches.

"You know Black, if you put your mind to use you might actually do something worthwhile." Lily snapped, but Sirius just smiled at her, carefree.

"Yeah, but what would be the fun in that?"

As Lily growled, ready to start in on him again, Leo rested a hand on her shoulder, pulling her back. "Relax Princess, stress is slowly killing you." We all raised an eyebrow at him, almost in unison.

"Princess?" Lily mouthed to Elaine, who shrugged.

"Better than Damsel." Elaine mouthed back, and Lily nodded in agreement.

"So, Leo, is that my official nickname or what?" Lily asked, and Leo grinned, his eyes still fixed on the games across the hall.

"I figured you'd need one eventually, so... Princess it is."

James eyebrows crinkled. "Yeah, but why Princess?" He asked, and Lily looked like she wanted to hear the answer as well, but was too stubborn to side with James.

"Well, because she looks like royalty." Leo said, sharing a smile with Lily.

"Flattery. How lovely." Sirius murmured from his relaxed position, and Lily glared at him. Sirius, of course, had no clue to the danger about to befall him, since he'd foolishly closed his eyes; Lily quickly grabbed one of his feet, lifted it, and pushed it backwards towards him, causing him to fall into the gap between the two bleachers, yelping in surprise as he went.

"Lily!" He whined, and Lily pouted, putting on an innocent expression.

"It wasn't me." She told him sweetly, and he glared at her before returning to his old position, eyes open this time around.

"We should call her Devil, instead."

(A/N): So, what did you think?

I imagine all these characters as being both hot-headed, and a little shy at times, but Remus is their calming balance really, until you get him pissed. Like Leo, he isn't afraid to hurt someone if it meant keeping someone he loved safe, but he also doesn't like, or start, fights.

Please review and/or check out my other stories!

This chapter has has edits made to it on 28/11/23 - had to change Brooke's age from 9 years old to 8 to match other chapters, and subsequently took some time trying to reconfigure this chapter to be SLIGHTLY less of an eyesore, but... I don't think there's much more I can do without completely rewriting it.