The Slytherin Transfer

02: "Bite me, Black."

I begin to shiver as I swim over to the dock and try to hoist myself up, failing miserably and wading water as best as I can in my heavy robes.

Suddenly, a hand appears in front of my face, and I glance up to see a grinning Sirius offering me help. I gratefully take it as my teeth chatter, and he easily tugs me out and to my feet, my lips already turning blue.

"D-d-do I s-still have t-to k-k-kiss C-Crabbe?" I stutter, hugging my freezing clothes closer to my body as Sirius laughs again, dragging me over to James, Remus, and Peter.

"I think you got what you had coming to you," he says, a hand on my shoulder as he leads me to the carriage. I shiver shamelessly, my face numb as I rub up and down my arms. Sirius eyes me before sighing and pulling off my robes, putting his on me instead.

"Th-thanks," I mumble as we walk, and he nods. The rest of the Marauders walk a bit ahead, James still chuckling lightly at what happened.

"So what really happened to your face?" Sirius asks me lowly, and I frown up at him.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Well, my family is a long line of Slytherin pure bloods." He shrugs, "I know that the Miltons are too. Your dad isn't a Muggle, and he doesn't own a shop."

I stare at him in realization. The Black family and the Milton family go back to the same time, so I should've known he'd catch my lie.

"Fine, you caught me." I just shrug, "I got mugged. I thought that it'd sound cooler if I told people I fought off the guy that robbed my dad's store."

I wink at him to sell my lie, and it works easily. He laughs and shakes his head as I put out my pinky.

"Promise you won't tell the others?" I ask, a grin on my face.

"Promise," he says, linking his pinky with mine as he helps me into the Thestral drawn carriage, sitting me down between him and James. Somehow, his arm ends up around me, rubbing up and down my shoulder to keep me warm. I find that I don't mind, letting him try and heat me up as we all ride up to Hogwarts.

I glance down at the Gryffindor emblem that's now on my chest and sigh. If only I was in this house, but the Marauders have a reputation to withhold, and I have to respect that.

So I tug off his robes and lightly remove his hand from my shoulder, giving him back his clothes and putting my soaking wet ones on as we reach the castle.

Sirius says nothing to protest as we head up the steps and into the front entrance, stopping once we reach the doors to the Great Hall.

"Look at all the Ickle Firsties," James says, nodding at the group of eleven year olds that are walking in slowly, looking around in awe. I smile at them, recognizing a few from the train station and chuckling to myself.

"Hey you lot!" I say at them, "Try to make the sorting quick, I'm starving, yeah?"

They look at each other as the Marauders laugh, and I turn back to them with a grin before it falters as I watch a Gryffindor girl waltz up to Sirius and peck him on the cheek. She's blonde and wears her uniform so that the skirt is pulled up too high and her shirt is tied into a cropped format.

He glances down at her as she smiles seductively, and I almost roll my eyes.

Marlene McKinnon. She and Sirius Black have been on and off since third year, mainly just together for the hookups. She also gets with basically everyone in our year. One time I caught her in the Slytherin Common Room with a boy, which is highly forbidden. I don't know what it is about her, but she rubs me the wrong way.

"Hey Sirius," she says coyly, sporting a face of make up, "Who's this?"

Sirius glances at me as he slings an arm across Marlene's shoulders and shrugs, his expression so quickly changing from amusement to nonchalance as he looks me up and down with a bored expression.

"Just some Slytherin chick." He shrugs, "Trying to get with me."

I almost let my mouth fall open in shock, and a light laugh of disbelief escapes my lips. I expect him to say he's kidding, but as I look between his lazy expression, James's smug smirk, and Remus's apologetic look, I realize this is where it ends.

"Did you tell her you're taken?" Marlene purrs, eyeing me as she kisses Sirius's jaw.

"I tried to." He shrugs, looking away from me to glance at the girl on his side, "She wouldn't give in."

Marlene pouts at me, "Sorry, girlie. Maybe stick to your own house."

"Right." I nod, "Like you did last year with Zacharis Jones?"

Anger flashes behind her eyes as James laughs, earning a smack to the head from Sirius.

"You'd better watch your back." She glares at me as I cross my arms and smile slyly.

"And you'd better stop spending so much time on yours," I retort, earning a snort from James as Remus and Sirius cover their smiles.

Marlene gapes as if offended, and looks up at Sirius, "Babe! Aren't you gonna back me up?"

He blinks in confusion, and I smile fakely at him before looking back at Marlene, "Forgive him, it seems he's choking on his own tongue rather than yours."

With that, I wave them goodbye, high-fiving James behind the others' backs and winking at Remus. Marlene scoffs and insults me as I leave, but I'm already gone, heading into the Great Hall and wringing out my sleeves. I eye the Slytherin table with disdain, trudging to my seat next to Charles and Mandy.

Immediately I'm engaged in shit talk, and this time, I join in, as the subject is Marlene McKinnon, and boy do I have some names to call her.

Eventually, the Sorting begins, and silence falls over the Great Hall as my anger slips away and I try not to look over at the Gryffindor table, where four pairs of eyes are avoiding me adamantly.