Blood Status || Marauders Era

Chapter 79|| 7th year

"Welcome back gang," I heard Mary say as she walked through the compartment door. I was currently sat with Lily and Alice as we were talking about what had happened in London over the summer. Not long after, Marlene and Aafiya arrived, one with a cat, and they both sat down, both in silence. "Doesn't it feel weird being seventh years now? It's also a shame that Fabian, Gideon, Frank and Leon are gone," Lily said.

It was a shame, I would miss the four boys from the year above us very much. From their extremely interesting jokes, to the games of exploding snap, to the gossip they tried to compile together. Of course, I would also miss Gideon rather a lot, he was kind, sweet, and he paid for my sweets from Honeydukes. It was definitely downplaying it if I said that it was just 'a shame'.

Alice sighed deeply and we all turned to her, but she said nothing about her boyfriend not being in Hogwarts anymore. I also knew that Quidditch would be stressful, as there would need to be three new people to train, and a whole new commentator who could be in our favour again or be against us and say some horrible commentary. My bet was that people did the job to say things about others.

"I'm not thinking about anyone else, but I am thinking about exams," Marlene said, her legs swinging up to rest on Mary's, her head leaning on the side of the carriage. "They're at the end of the year, that's my reassurance," Mary laughed shortly. There was much stress being felt in the carriage, and it was quite unusual for this group of people I almost felt uncomfortable. 

I wondered if this would be the year to test our friendship bonds.

Getting into Hogwarts was not a problem for us naturals, we had practiced the move between the express and the carriages for so many years that the transition was ingrained in our heads. The only difference to this year was that it was the first year that I rode the carriages with the girls, before, I had been with the boys, I had even gone in the boats all the way back in first year with them.

I was reminiscing that this would be the last sorting I would be present at, and that it would be the last time I rode the carriages, coming back to a new year and an improved me. There would be plenty of feasts throughout the year however, so that was not anything to worry about yet. Even as I walked through the Entrance Hall doors and sat down, I could feel the atmosphere, and I was back.

There was an unusual buzz this year, contrary to the other years, and it was coming from the Slytherins and, surprisingly, the professors. Hagrid and Dumbledore were whispering to each other, their eyes darting to the others, making sure they weren't heard. Then at the Slytherin table, Mulciber was talking in low whispers to Crouch Jr. It was obvious that nothing good was coming out of these whispers.

After the new first years were sorted into their houses: Aashvia Patel, Dylan Comer and many more were just some of the Gryffindors that were sorted into this house. Including a long and tedious process, there was also a small speech from Dumbledore before we could all finally eat and in this speech, all he said was, "Make no bad choices, and nothing bad will happen." Then he told everyone to start eating, and magically, food appeared onto the table.

"What do you think he meant?" Aafiya asked us all, fork in her hand, it being held right up to her mouth in mid-air. The whole table, including myself, had probably pondered his words, usually they were strange words or cheerful words, but the speech this time had been short, and left a nasty imagine in everyone's mind. I spared a glance at Sirius who I could tell also knew where the speech was directed, the loyal 'followers'.

"Eat, don't think about it too much, you'll get worry lines, and besides, the food is as delicious as always," Peter told the group. I hated myself for it afterwards, in years to come, but I never questioned this, I just imagined he was praising the house elves and their cooking. I had never thought of why he was so eager to steer us off the topic and stop thinking about those people. I also never realised how he suddenly seemed to eat so much more than usual.

After dinner and a good serving of desserts, the tables started to leave in big groups, and I left, following in the footsteps of James and Lily. Lily hated the fact that James was Head Boy and herself Head Girl, or that was what she told everyone when they asked her. However, they couldn't see the smile that I saw when she talked about him, or the way her eyes flickered over to the boy whenever he did anything remotely human.

"Hey Head Boy, walk slower will you, I'm getting a cramp, and tell us the password or we'll be locked out all night," Marlene complained as she jogged to catch up to our group. Sirius immediately agreed with her, although even his normal walk is large strides, and he was not at all struggling to catch up. James turned around dramatically, saying, "Stop trying to boycott me on my first day on the job. And just catch up, it's not hard!"

James was a Quidditch player, he had incredible stamina, and he was also technically a stag, so he walked faster than the average person, so even for Lily, she was slowing down and lagging behind him as she shouted instructions to the tiny first years. I could swear wholeheartedly they were smaller each year, which explained all of the complaining about fast walking and a random force bumping into my kneecaps.

Once the portrait hole was open, the whole of Gryffindor tower rushed inside and either went straight to bed or flopped into the nearest armchair available. James, the cause of all the trouble had his hands on his hips and a big grin on his face, sighing cheerfully, "That was a nice walk, don't you think?" Peter deadpanned, placing his head in his hands and telling the unnecessarily energetic boy, "Not for people who are not part animal it wasn't."

After a ping pong of arguments for and against the hike to Gryffindor tower, the Marauders eventually went to bed, following Andre as they said he was 'trustworthy enough to check for monsters under the bed'. This made Remus laugh and also make a self-deprecating comment which made Sirius regret his words. There was no offence taken, fortunately.

Going into my own dormitory again, the same one that I'd been in for seven years now, it almost felt more of a home to me than any place did. For some strange reason, I didn't know how I would be able to function without going to lessons and having lunch at the same time every day and not seeing the Black Lake every break. I was going to miss this place, and so, I made sure that this year would be filled with everything I would love to do one last time.

"What do you think Athena? You'll probably be in the team again and I was thinking about trying out for Beater, now that the twins are gone, you'll be in need," Marlene told me as she sat down on her bed. I stopped unpacking and thought about it, on one hand, I'd never seen her play Quidditch, let alone fly, but on the other hand, she was competitive, fierce, and would love hitting people with a Bludger.

I told her, "You would probably do well, and then you can also release some inner anger onto the bludger, just make sure not to hit a person." Marlene laughed but she never agreed and so, as we all fell asleep, I was largely concerned. I knew that Marlene would never purposely hit someone with a bat, but I also didn't know she wouldn't, and that was Marlene as a whole, extremely unpredictable.

Thinking about the girl made me reminisce about us in first year, meeting all of the girls, meeting Remus and then having to share a compartment in the train with Sirius and James. They were as big headed and ego centrical now as they were then, some things never change, on the other hand, some things do. Like Peter and his confidence, or Marlene and her constant need of validation, or Lily and her dislike for James.

The one thing I banked on not changing was another year at Hogwarts that was going to be fun filled, chaotic, full of pranks big and small, and the people as odd and as interesting as ever. It was quite like once you stepped in the halls of Hogwarts, you changed, and from first to seventh year, I had definitely changed, whether in appearance, personality or both, and I was hoping to leave this school, a better person all around.