Something To Remember Us By *Jily*

Chapter 4

Lily traced a finger on the rough stone that made up the walls of Hogwarts. "Thanks for coming with me, I didn't want to leave alone." She thanked Mary. Mary smiled brightly. "Of course! I had already finished breakfast, and I wanted to make it to classes early."

Lily had wanted to leave for classes early, but Marlene and Dorcas wanted to continue eating breakfast, so Mary was the one that accompanied her, also wanting to get to classes before everyone else.

"Breakfast was weird. The Gryffindor boys are a bit annoying." Mary commented.

Lily's luminous green eyes were somehow made brighter with anger. "That James Potter annoys me so much! He's such a.... such a... toerag!" She fumed, finally coming up with a sufficient word to describe him. Mary gave her a strange look. "He's not that bad, his head is just a tad inflated."

Lily shrugged, then suddenly came to a stop. "Hey... are we even on the right side of Hogwarts?" She asked. Mary glanced around the corridor. "I don't know," She admitted. "It's just so hard to tell!"

"Maybe we should try talking to a painting," Lily suggested. She stepped in front of a nearby painting. "Excuse me sir, can you give me directions to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom?" She asked politely. He scratched his balding head and peered at her through milky cataracts. "Hm?" He grunted. "Excuse me sir, can you please give me directions to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom?" She repeated.

He tugged at the collar of his velvet robes that appeared to be more pockets than fabric, and she swore she could see painted beads of sweat forming on his forehead. "Hold on a mo'... just need a smoke." He pulled an already filled pipe out of one of his endless pockets, and a wand from another. He tapped his wand to his pipe and inhaled blissfully. Billowing clouds of grey smoke obscured his face, and there were a few noises of clutter being knocked around. "What was that again?" He asked in a gravelly voice.

"Excuse me, sir, can you please give me directions to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom?" Lily enquired for the third time. Mary gawked at her infinite patience. If it was Mary who was asking, well, she would've just walked away. I did the U.K spelling!!! Idk why I'm so proud of that.

"I believe you have to turn to my left and go up the stairs there, and towards the end of that corridor, you will find the DADA classroom." He informed her, puffing pleasedly on his pipe. "Thank you, sir."

He puffed up his rather large chest proudly. "Anything to help a student! Used to teach here, you know... my son teaches here now, potions I think. He's doing the Slughorn name proud!" Lily nodded respectfully and headed for the stairs, Mary by her side. "He seemed like a nice bloke," Mary noted. "Definitely." Lily agreed. "And, wow! How do you have that much patience?" Mary marvelled. Lily laughed. "Trust me, when you grow up with Tuney you have to have ENDLESS patience." 

"Tuney? Who's Tuney?" Mary asked curiously. "Oh... she's my twin." Mary thought it over a minute. "Was she sorted into a different house?" Lily seemed to deflate. "No... she doesn't have magic." Mary flushed. "Oh... sorry." Lily smiled halfheartedly, feeling the tears prick at the corner of her eyes. "It's alright... kind of. She hates me for it, though."

Mary didn't know what to say, so she only patted Lily on the shoulder consolingly. "Thank you." Lily mumbled, wiping away the small rivulets of tears on her face. "But hey, at least I have you and the girls."

"Yeah, we're pretty great, aren't we?" Mary joked. Lily let out a choked laugh. "Yeah... you guys are." Mary smiled, glad she had been able to cheer Lily up, even if it had only been a little bit.

"Blimey, first day and we're already lost!" Sirius exclaimed. "They should make a map of this place..." Remus mused thoughtfully. "Yes, we should do that..." James nodded instantly, running a hand through his disorderly hair. Peter trailed at the back of the group, his watery eyes darting between the other boys.

"Maybe just take a left here...?" Remus trailed off, passing a portrait of a rather heavy man with a pipe clenched firmly between his teeth. "Honestly, who bloody knows," James stated, his eyebrows furrowed with frustration. "I bet you that Evans bird does!" Sirius pointed out.

"Don't mention that tosser!" James growled, his pace quickening. Sirius laughed heartily, jogging a bit to keep up with him. "What do you even have against her, mate?"

"I dunno... she's friends with that greasy Snape bloke, isn't she?" James said defensively. His legs moved even faster. Sirius was full-on running to match his long strides by now. "Ok, besides that?" Remus questioned. James glowered. "She's a bit of a kiss-up."

"Betcha wouldn't mind if she was kissing up to you!" Sirius crowed, making kissy noises. "Ewww!" James exclaimed. Remus raised his eyebrows. His face gave him away. He thought. His ears are tinged with red, and his hand subconsciously reached up and mussed his hair.

Sirius had noticed as well. "JAMES FANCIES EVAANSSSS!!!" He hollered, his voice echoing loudly through the corridor. James smacked a palm over Sirus's mouth. "Shut it, you ruddy git!" He hissed. "Jsms ffsnces effans!" He tried to shout, his words muffled by James's hand.

A second later James snatched his hand back from Sirius's face with a horrified look on his face. "EWWWW! Sirius licked my hand!"

"Sirius... don't lick people's hands." Remus lectured him sternly. "I'm not a bloody dog..." Sirius muttered. "Then don't act like one." Sirius gasped dramatically, bringing a hand to his heart. "What?! How dare you accuse me of something like this Rey?!"

"Rey?" Remus questioned. "Your nickname," Sirius told him, grinning lopsidedly. A nickname. Remus had never had a nickname. Hell, he hadn't even had mates before, because of his... condition. Suddenly he was worried. What if they found out? Would they treat him differently? His hand went up to trace the scar running up the bridge of his nose. Sirius noticed the look of worry on Remus's face and slung an arm around his shoulder. "Alright Mate?" He asked. Remus let his worries melt away for the time being. "Yeah, I'm alright." Still, the worries haunted him even as they walked along the corridors, Sirius cracking stupid jokes and telling exaggerated ancedotes.

The group of boys continued to chatter as they wandered aimlessly throughout the halls of Hogwarts. Their chatter died away as they came face to face with their new DADA teacher who looked vaguely familiar to all the boys. James almost snapped his fingers when he figured it out. Their professor strongly resembled Sirius.

Sirius shrank away as his silvery eyes met another pair the exact same colour. "Hello... cousin." Druella Black spat, her silver-grey eyes glittering with malice. She bared her teeth in a menacing grin, tossing her curls over her shoulder. "Welcome to my class..." She brushed her fingers over her wand, which had the words 'toujurs pur' etched into the fine wood. "I'm sure we'll have oodles of fun..."