When It's All Over

September 2, 1971 (part one)

The next morning came too soon for Remus' liking. After getting lost on the moving staircase, it had taken them another 45 minutes to find their way back to the Gryffindor common room and unfortunately, two of the Prefects had still been awake and playing chess when they walked in. They had seemed more annoyed that their game was interrupted than by the fact that the four boys had entered after curfew, and it resulted in them losing 20 house points-- 5 points each.

"Everyone's going to be wondering who already lost points from Gryffindor," Peter worried his lip between teeth.

"I doubt anyone will even noticed," James reassured, yawning as they made their way towards the Great Hall.

"I'm still not convinced that it's fair to lose points after we got lost," Sirius rolled his eyes.

But as they entered the Great Hall, there was low, hurried chatter at the Gryffindor table. Remus caught phrases like "20 points", "what idiots", and "kiss the house cup goodbye."

"I think they know," Peter squeaked.

"Do they know it was us?" Remus whispered, glancing to the other two boys who were trying to remain cool as they took their seats.

"Great job. You couldn't behave yourselves for one night?"

Remus looked up at the redheaded girl from yesterday-- Lily, he recalled her saying. She sat down with a flourish and looked at them with fire in her eyes.

"It wasn't our fault," James started, and she rolled her eyes.

"We were exploring, and we were trying to get back. The staircase moved and we got lost. It took us 45 minutes to find our way back," Sirius tried to explain.

"Maybe don't go exploring right before curfew then," another girl with dark, curly hair suggested as she fixed her breakfast.

"So you're telling me you just sat around and did nothing all night then?" Sirius fired back. Remus willed him to just back down. His head was already pounding and they hadn't even attended any of their classes for the day.

"Yes, actually, that's exactly what we did," another girl with short strawberry blonde hair answered, taking a seat beside Lily. "And we managed to have fun, and not lose house points." 

"Good morning Marlene," the girl with curly black hair offered, handing her a basket with croissants.

"'Morning Mary," she replied, plucking two croissants out of the basket.

Sirius decided he was finished with the confrontation and turned back towards Remus. He was getting ready to speak when hundreds of owls flew into the room.

Remus' eyes widened as he watched the owls dive down to the tables, and he instinctively ducked. He noticed Lily doing the same thing until they realized that the owls weren't hitting people. Instead, they landed gracefully on the table in front of their respective owners, letters and parcels tied around their legs.

"It's how wizards mail things to one another," James explained to Remus, speaking loud enough that Lily could also hear. "It seems like it would take a lot longer, but it's actually quite fast and very accurate."

Lily gave Remus a small smile, and he returned it. It made him feel better that he wasn't the only one who was unfamiliar with everything. Even though his dad was a wizard, he rarely used magic around the house and when he did, it was to lock Remus up on the afternoons before the full moon.

"Oh boy," Sirius muttered under his breath, and Remus glanced over to see the boy had paled by several shades. A scarlet red letter was tied to the owl's ankle, and Sirius was making no move to untie it.