Since Quidditch doesn't technically start until November, we start off by only having one practice a week. It gives us all time to get to know one another and become comfortable, and even start up thinking of strategies for when we do have our first game against Slytherin.
James requested that we practice twice a week, to get ahead, but I told him he'd have to take that extra nap time out of my cold dead hands, so he caved. Since then, we've been practicing loosely once a week, mostly just fooling around on the pitch and talking strategy as the days get shorter and September melts into October.
Soon enough, the first Hogsmeade weekend comes along, having the entire school brimming with excitement at the thought of leaving school grounds.
"Do you guys all have your forms signed?" Mary asks as we sit in Charms class.
"Yeah, but I had to work for my signature," I say, yawning hugely as I pack my stuff away.
"I forged mine," Dorcas says, brushing her dark hair from her face as she stands, "I mastered the art in third year."
We all chuckle as the bell rings, signalling the end of class and the stampede of students as they head to the grounds to give their forms to their Head of House and catch the carriages that lead to the village. We all make our way outside, finding McGonagall in the crowd of students and giving her the slips of paper signed by our parents before heading for the carriages.
"First carriage!" Marlene calls, and her, James, Alice, Dorcas, Mary, and Peter all rush towards it, leaving me, Sirius, Remus, and Lily waiting for the next one. We groan, the cold nipping at my open ears and nose as our friends ride away, laughing at our misfortune.
"You thinking what I'm thinking, Moony?" Sirius turns to the taller friend, who looks at him suspiciously.
"Not now and probably not ever," he answers and I snort.
"If you're lucky."
I chuckle as Sirius nudges me before beginning to head back into the castle.
"Where the hell are you going?" I ask as Remus smirks, following his friend.
"Think we can trust them, Remus?" Sirius asks mischievously, and his friend raises his shoulder in a one-armed shrug.
"I think we'll have to if we want to beat James and Peter," he answers, and Lily and I share a look before rolling our eyes and following them.
"It's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." Sirius grins as we enter the castle and make a beeline for the stairs.
"What exactly are we being trusted with?" Lily asks as we march through the corridors, weaving through excited students and disappointed first and second years who don't get to go to Hogsmeade yet.
"You two dumbasses do realize that we're going in the opposite direction of our intended destination," I say, raising an eyebrow in question as they both snicker.
"Oh, you'll be swallowing your words in a few minutes," Sirius says as we reach the third floor and stop climbing, instead making our way to the Turris Magnus, one of the largest towers of Hogwarts that overlooks the suspension bridge and the training grounds.
That's where we stop, in front of a creepy statue of a one-eyed witch that I've seen maybe once or twice.
"Oh wow. I've never been to this part of Hogsmeade before," I say dryly, and Lily snickers.
"Oh shut up," Sirius rolls his eyes, but there's a small smile on his face as he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, "and just watch."
I cross my arms in a disbelieving nature as he pulls out his wand and taps the statue.
"Dissendium," he mutters, and I take a step back in shock as the witch moves to the side and reveals a dark hole leading into a slide. He turns to me and raises his arm as if he just put on some grand performance and I raise my own in surrender before he grins, "and now, we run."
It's lucky that all of our cardio is surprisingly good, because the walk through the tunnel would've been an hour, but as we jog through it, it shortens the time to about half, which is the same amount of time it takes the carriage down to Hogsmeade. We're just hoping the effort isn't in vain, and we beat the others.
"Okay, this is it." Sirius stops, and we all slow to a stop, breathing heavily and wiping sweat from our brows.
"This better be worth it, Black." I tie my hair up, my chest heaving up and down as he leads us to the end, where a trap door sits in the tunnel ceiling.
"I assure you, Milton," He looks back at me to wink while opening the door a crack, "it's worth it."
After deciding the coast is clear, he hoists himself up, followed by Remus and Lily. I approach the hole in the ceiling and grab onto his arm, letting him lift me up and into what appears to be a cellar full of sweets. Sirius nudges the door closed, which is disguised as a tile in the floor, before he puts a finger to his lips, motioning us towards the staircase.
"Hold on," I mutter, "are we in Honeydukes?"
Remus and Sirius just respond with huge grins, and I can't help but smile as well. Lily shrugs at me and follows the two boys up the stairs, where we come out behind the register.
"Hey!" The man standing at the cash says, "What the bloody hell are you four doing? How did you get in here?"
We all look at each other before bolting. I leap over the counter as the guy tries to grab me, shouting obscenities as we all escape his grasp and jump around people to get out of the shop. We burst into laughter as we reach the main strip, which is lined with shops of all kinds. Remus and I trip over one another, and he steadies me as Lily looks back to make sure we aren't being followed.
"Come on," Sirius says, grabbing my hand as we walk along the road, heading towards where the carriages come to a stop. Just as we get there, the one with all our friends pulls up, and they stare at us in confusion.
"Well well well," Sirius says as I pull my hand from his and smile smugly, "About time you lot showed up."
"How are you guys here?" Mary asks as James helps her down from the carriage, "We left before you."
"I guess your carriage is just slower than ours," I say, shrugging as I walk over to the Thestrals, which are the animals that lead the vehicles, "Maybe it can't bear the extra weight of Potter's thick skull."
"Zing!" Sirius grins as James rolls his eyes knowingly, obviously understanding exactly how we got here so quickly.
"What are you doing?" Alice asks in confusion as I stroke the bony horse's neck.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" I ask, and she shrugs.
"It looks like you're petting thin air," she says, and I laugh.
"Someone's seen death," Dorcas mutters as she too walks over to pet the Thestral, "I saw my Great Aunt Camille, how about you?"
I shrug, "My cousin."
I shudder at the memory, but don't let my grave expression show. My cousin Garrick was the only family member I could stand. He was a year older, and when he got to Hogwarts, he was sorted into Gryffindor. His parents killed him for it.
I had been over for Christmas dinner, and Garrick had returned for the holidays. My family had all left but I had forgotten my jacket, so I went back inside just in time to see my uncle snap his own son's neck in a drunken rage. I was ten. I had nightmares for years to follow, and I cried every night that month. I had loved Garrick like my own brother, and after seeing that happen to him, let's just say that was one reason I was relieved I was sorted into Slytherin.
It's also a factor as to why there's no way in hell I'm going home for Christmas.
"I'm sorry," she says, and I shrug indifferently.
"Me too."
She smiles at me kindly, and we both pull away from the horses to meet Mary, who gives us a sad hug as we walk. I pull away quickly, not liking the pitiful attention as we all head into the village, Sirius still taunting everyone over our win. However, when I fall into step next to him, he leans down to whisper in my ear, a concerned expression on his face.
"Are you okay?" He asks, and I turn my head to look at him before nodding and smiling.
"Yeah. Thanks."
"I can see them too," he says quietly, and I gaze at him in slight shock as he pulls away and starts talking to the whole group again, a grin on his face as if he didn't just admit he's looked death straight in the eyes.
***
We spend all afternoon just milling about, James and I spending a lot of our savings at Zonko's Joke Shop before we all eat dinner and then head to visit the Shrieking Shack. Lily had left us pretty quickly to go meet up with Severus, claiming that he needed help finding new robes. We all made the joke that he's depending on her to dress him as if she's his mother, and that's when she got annoyed and trudged off to Gladrags Wizardwear.
"Most haunted building in Britain my ass," Marlene says as we stare at the beaten down shack from behind the fence, which is enchanted so no one can get past it. I know because James dared me to try and I ended up getting blasted ten feet, much to everyone's amusement.
"You can't deny the truth, Mar," Alice shakes her head solemnly, "The villagers here say they hear things at night. Especially on full moons."
Remus coughs next to me, shifting as I snort with laughter, "That's bullshit. If it's some ghoul it's not gonna be haunting once a month."
"Unless it's a female ghoul," Sirius says.
"Oh real funny." Marlene narrows her eyes, "How about I kick you in the nuts once a month and see how you like it?"
"You already do that," James says, and we all laugh.
"I say we move your next appointment to tomorrow." My eyes meet Marlene's, "You don't mind an audience, do you?"
Sirius pushes my grinning face away before pulling me into a headlock and ruffling my hair with his knuckles as we all chuckle. I nudge him off of me and he laughs, slinging an arm around my shoulders and pulling me away from the shack.
"Come on. Let's go to the Three Broomsticks."
We all follow, and Marlene cocks her head to the side.
"How many butterbeers would I need to drink to get drunk?" She asks no one in particular, "I mean, I know they have some alcohol in them—"
"Around twenty-two." Dorcas cuts her off, "Well, that's for me."
"Jesus, Meadowes," James says as he shakes his head, "Your liver must hate you."
She shrugs, a smirk on her face as we trudge back into the village and head to the bar. I nudge Sirius's arm off of me, but he just puts it back, pulling me close to his side as I roll my eyes.
"If this is your great strategy, I'll save you the sweat and tell you now that it isn't working," I mutter to him, but he just grins, unfazed.
"I'm not worried."
"Why don't you just accept the fact that I'm not into you?" I ask, "It's really not personal. No hard feelings."
"Oh but that's where you're wrong," he mutters in a low whisper, leaning down to my ear as he smirks, "All I get are hard feelings around you."
I gape, a blush creeping on my face as I try and think of a snarky comeback. He pulls back and looks at my face, chuckling at my expression.
"Finally got you to shut up, did I?" He grins, and I roll my eyes, "I didn't know you were capable of blushing that deep."
"It's because of the cold," I say back, and he just lets out a barking laugh, pulling me closer as we reach the strip and head to the Three Broomsticks. I subtly press my hands to my cheeks to try and cool them off, not even bothering to wriggle out of Sirius's close hold until we enter the bar.
We all find a booth near the back, squeezing the nine of us inside. I get in first, meaning I'm next to the wall. Mary goes to sit next to me, but Sirius pulls her back and instead shifts all the way across the booth until he's satisfied, leaving me to squish into the wall to avoid my knee bumping his. Everyone else follows in, except for Remus, Dorcas, Peter, and Alice, who take seats in the chairs opposite.
Although the girls in our group all have a bone to pick with one or more of the Marauders, we always end up spending time with them despite ourselves. Marlene and Sirius are more complicated than a forgotten cold case, but he has also hooked up with Dorcas and Mary, and kissed Alice on a dare. With James, all five of my roommates think he's an arrogant twat, and Mary had a crush on him in third year, so that doesn't help. They all feel indifferent towards Peter, who doesn't speak much when we're around and instead speaks mainly to the boys. I don't think anyone really has a problem with Remus, except for the fact that he's insanely secretive and no one knows where all his scars come from. Just last week he came back with a fresh one across his cheek, and when I built up the courage to ask him about it he just frowned and said it wasn't new. I know he lied, but what am I supposed to do, call him out for it? Everyone knows it's a sensitive subject for him, and I'm not an asshole.
Nevertheless, here we all sit, sipping our butterbeer and laughing at the boys' dumb jokes. I don't have an issue with any of them yet, although James does get on my nerves half the time and Sirius is beginning to really get to me. All I know is they're ten times better than the guys in Slytherin (they haven't yet tried to drown me) and that's more than good enough for me.