The Bug Collector | marauders

Summer of 75'

—

September 1st 1975
The Hogwarts Express

Rose sat beside James in their usual spot, Sirius sat adjacent from her with Remus and Peter on both sides of him.

If Rose thought the boys looked different last year— they really looked different this year, and she must have too by the way they all looked when she joined them.

Her hair was growing longer and wavier each year, her bangs held a messy look to them but her green eyes shone brightly. She'd gotten some new glasses for her birthday and they suited her much more than her old ones and so she had decided to wear them more often, she wore her pear scented lip balm and some blush on her cheeks, her robes were tightly packed into a bag as she wore her uniform with her father's coat overtop, she also noticed her skirt fit a bit tighter than it had the year before.

Those were her changes.

Sat in front of her was another set of changes that made her heart flutter and her belly tighten.

It was unpleasant really.

Sirius sat leaned over, smirk planted on his face, legs crossed and arms folded, his arms(and James') seemed to fit snuggly inside his long sleeved shirt, perhaps it was even a bit too tight. His red and gold tie was tied loosely around his neck, and there was an extra button unbuttoned from his shirt. Rose found it hard to look away. He had also finally begun to catch up with the other boys heights, though would probably never be as tall as Remus.

Remus' hair was longer this year, as was James', Peter's remained at the soft fluffy length he'd had it the previous year.

James played with one of his curls with his wand, Peter looked out the window, and Sirius leaned ever so slightly into Moony's side, that's when Rose noticed something else new.

A prefect badge pinned to Remus' robe. Remus was gonna be a bloody prefect. Their Remus was going to be a prefect like her sister Lily.

Astonishing honestly.

Rose sat back with a deep breath and allowed herself to glance back over at Sirius once more, and caught eyes with Remus doing the same thing. Sirius' pale skin seemed unblemished in the gloomy glow from the window, his hair long and such a dark black it held cool toned hue, and his lips...

They were pink and supple and girly like Regulus'. He was moving something in his mouth around awkwardly, and now that Rose thought about it he hadn't said much yet, none of the boys really had. She saw a slip of green come from his lips.

"Sirius what's that in your mouth?" She asked

"Nothing" he half mumbled.

"Spit it out!" She said seeing a little more of the thing. Holding out her hand for him to spit out whatever it was.

"No. Leave it be." He said and put one hand over his mouth and moved hers away with the other.

"You're so odd." Rose said before leaning her head against the window hoping to fall asleep for the rest of the ride.

There would be no such luck on this journey back to Hogwarts.

Not long into her nap Rose heard a sound, while it wasn't exceptionally familiar she knew she had heard it before, Lily crying. She lifted her sleepy head to catch a glimpse of her sister running by, hands in her face as she shut the door of the carriage behind her.

Rose stood and removed her father's jacket, tossing it to Sirius.

"Hold this." She said as she went to comfort her sister. That's when she learned what happened.

Severus Snape had the audacity to call Lily a mudblood.

Mudblood, a slur used to describe people that were muggle-born like Rose and Lily.

Rose assisted her sister all she could, letting her cry and eventually taking her back to sit with her friends.

She was fuming internally.

Lily had trusted that slimy git and this is how he repaid her sister's kindness? Lily had to be the one of the kindest people Rose had ever met, perhaps too kind in this case.

Unluckily for Snape, Rose had never claimed to be kind.

Once Rose knew Lily was fine she was on a mission, she walked calmly up to the group of Slytherin boys, Evan Rosier was among them wearing his prefect badge proudly.

"Severus?" Rose asked sweetly for the boys attention before sending a punch right into the middle of his face, blood gushed from his nose onto Rose's hand.

Gasps erupted all around the other Slytherins as Rose wiped her bloody hand onto the boys scarf.

"That'll be at least 20 points from Slytherin.." Evan grumbled.

"And it was bloody worth it." Rose said laced with the same venom of their house emblem.

"Any of you even look at my sister again and it'll be worse." She continued, as she looked over the group, and for a moment she met eyes with Regulus Black who had been sitting among them.

"You too, Black." She spat as she turned to return to her friends.

Regulus looked different too, the surprised expression on his face when Rose looked at him with blood smeared on her fist was almost cute.