𝐒𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍; 𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫.

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢: 𝐤𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐞

𝐀𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝, 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐌𝐚𝐞 𝐀𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫—𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭. She strode onto the Hogwarts Express in a blaze of striking, carefully lined eyes, messy blonde hair, and a Gryffindor scarf thrown over one shoulder; trunk carefully balanced upon the other. However, the scarf was the only evidence that she wasn't a normal student—for she was wearing Muggle clothes. A silk, button-down shirt was unbuttoned at the top, sliding off one shoulder and showing a single dark strap. Her long, slender legs were clad in black flared leggings, and her new hair—previously a chestnut brown—cascaded down her back in careful loops and waves.

"Tal!" 

Amara whipped her head around to face where the call had come from, piercing hawk-like eyes searching through the crowds. They came to rest on a messy-haired, handsome boy her age, with floppy glasses and a shorter, watery-eyed boy with a nervous tic of scratching his earlobe.

She smiled warmly, flashing bright teeth and showing off a dimple on the left side. "Hi, boys."

"Missed you this summer, Tal," The taller one said, throwing an arm around her shoulder. "Shame your stickler parents couldn't let you over to mine for Marlene's birthday celebration."

"I'm sure you all survived," Amara replied quickly, shooting the shorter boy a warm smile. "Hi, Peter," she said quietly. "How was your summer?"

"Good." His eyes darted between her and the other boy. "Are we going to go find a compartment soon? I don't want them to all run out."

"Patience, Peter," Amara said. "We'll wait for Pads and Rem, and then we'll head in. Like we always do."

"R-right. Sorry."

"It's really okay, Pete." She sent him a reassuring smile. "So, James," she continued, turning back to the boy with glasses, "Made any progress this year? You know, with Lily?"

"I dunno," James replied hesitantly. "I, er, had a sort of a fling this past summer. With a Muggle girl. Sort of forgot about Evans for a while now."

"Well, that's good! You're free to run about the school like a mad dog, and believe me; there are tons of lovely girls who'd want to go out with you." She smiled at him, before gasping and waving over a tall, thin boy with littered scars all over his face and arms and soft brown hair. "Remus," she called, standing on her toes. "God damn it—REMUS!"

"Good Lord, Avison," James muttered, sticking an index finger into his ear. "Keep your outrageously inflated lungs to yourself."

Amara stuck her tongue out at him, before running to Remus and pulling him into a firm hug, laughing joyfully. "Remus! How was your summer? Blimey, you're tall—"

"Did someone say Sirius Black?" Said a low, smooth voice from behind them. Amara, still wrapped up in her hug with Remus, rolled her eyes and turned to face the dark-haired boy behind her.

"No," she said dryly, reaching to give him a hug as well. "But now that you're here, we might as well invite you to come with us."

"Do we have to?" Remus whined.

Sirius, however, was frozen; staring in awe up at Remus, an unreadable expression on his face. "When did you get so tall...mate?"

Remus flushed. "People keep saying that."