Chapter Text
“I don’t wannaaaaa.”
James rolled his eyes, and gave up on shaking the shoulder just visible beneath the duvet in favour of yanking the pillow away. “If your mother catches you dropping your t’s like that, she’ll change her mind about letting you stay at Hogwarts.”
Frowning, Sirius propped himself up on one elbow to stare sleepily up at his best friend. Blinking didn’t make him disappear, which meant that…
“Shit!” he hissed, jack-knifing out of bed, blindly grabbing at whatever he encountered first. “How late am I?”
“You should be okay,” James smirked, giving the pair of jeans by his ankle a cursory glance over, before helpfully chucking them at Sirius’ head, “I thought I might need to wake you…”
The look Sirius threw him as he tugged the nearest t-shirt over his head could only be described as withering, but James had long since become desensitised to Sirius’ many and varied facial expressions in the twelve years he’d known the older boy. Instead he just raised his eyebrows and took a sip from his cup of tea.
“Why do you even have tea?” Sirius asked as he headed out of his room, in what James could only hope was in search of a comb.
“Uh,” James toed the pile of clothes by the desk, checking for signs of life, before perching precariously on the edge, “Your mum gave it to me when I got here.”
“What the hell? She didn’t even wake me,” Sirius’ voice floated down the hall, slightly muffled by the bathroom door.
“I can’t help it if she loves me more.” James was glad for the years of experience he had when it came to dealing with Sirius in the mornings as he wordlessly handed over the mug as the other boy reappeared in his room. Instead he just watched with amusement as Sirius pulled a face of utter disgust as he drained it.
“You know,” James proceeded to then pass Sirius his phone as he upended stacks of books in his own search, and tried not to laugh at the way that his hair was currently plastered to the left-hand side of his face “You’d think you’d be used to how I have my tea by now. You’ve only been stealing it for the past five years.”
He glanced up from where he was scrolling through Facebook – which, what even? It was eight in the morning for Christ’s sake, what did he think was happening right now? – “It always tastes worse in the morning,” the obviously unmistakable in his tone.
James just rolled his eyes – one day they were going to come loose – and pushed his friend towards the door. Summer was definitely over.
*
Gently pushing down the clips, Alice closed the flute case with a small smile. Always one to maintain a routine, she’d run through her scales and arpeggios, and a few of her warm up pieces in the spare half-hour she set aside every morning. It wasn’t anything particularly taxing, but she’d found that playing, even just for a short while, at the beginning of the day helped her to relax, and wake up better than any “well balanced breakfast to start the day” – to quote her aunt - could. Besides, it was better that she re-established the habit now, rather than struggling to find time to just play for herself once school restarted, and A Level stress set in.
Phone in hand, she shouldered her bag, and headed to the door casting a last cursory glance over her room. Her eyes lingered fondly on the photo of the NYO taken at the Proms in August; from the door, she couldn’t quite see where she stood smiling at the camera - Katie’s arms wrapped around her waist, chin resting on her shoulder - but knew they were there nonetheless.
Every so often, she’d find herself suddenly struck by the fact that she wouldn’t be seeing these people so often – some of them never again – after her decision to leave the orchestra to focus on her education. It was Katie she knew she’d miss seeing the most, but she had enough faith in their relationship that it wouldn’t be a problem for them. Besides, Cardiff wasn’t really that far to travel.
Closing the door gently behind her, she tapped out a quick text – Morning, Sunshine. Hope you slept well – and slipped her phone into her bag. Katie didn’t restart school until the next week, so she’d be lucky if she got a reply before lunch.
*
Remus looked up at the building before him. It’s not so bad, he supposes. Hogwarts’ School of Secondary Education isn’t even that much bigger than the rural school he’d sat his GCSEs at, and the Sixth Form here only totals around two-hundred and fifty students. He’s just grateful that his Dad didn’t stick to his original plan. Remus shudders at the thought of attending the college, with its thousand strong student body.
But. That doesn’t mean that he necessarily wants to be here. At all. He understands why his parents decided to make the move from their isolated house to be closer to the south coast. His mum had finished her book, and there really was no reason to stay there, not with the difficulty his dad had in commuting to the office. And sure, it’ll be good for him to ‘widen his horizons’ and meet new people, get used to life in a busier town – he refuses to call this seaside resort a city: his dad works in London for God’s sake.
He just doesn’t really want to. He was perfectly happy in his tiny school, attended by the children form the surrounding villages and hamlets. Yes, it meant an early morning, and a long day, but at least he knew people there, knew what to expect from each day. Here, he had no point of reference, no way of knowing what to expect.
Still, he was here to do well in his exams first and foremost.
It just- it wasn’t nice knowing that everyone here had known each other for at least five years, had formed friendship groups, had private-jokes and shared history. He was sixteen years old, feeling four.
Sighing, he pushed his headphones further into his ears, and hitched his bag up on his shoulder.
It was going to be a long day.
*
Severus pulled the sleeves of his jumper further over his hands, and worried a loose thread on the cuff. Sat front and centre, and slumped as low as humanly possible in his chair, he radiated an air of stand-offishness, ensuring a bubble of space was left around him, even as he heard the hall start to fill up. Long used to his solitude, he found it easy to filter out the inane chatter about the summer holidays, girls comparing their tans, boys comparing their drunken shenanigans.
There was a time when he might have wished that he had stories he could share, that he had been to the parties at the beach, but he had long since left behind idle childish dreams. So instead, he had spent every spare minute of his summer working, making sure that there would be absolutely no reason to prevent him from hightailing it out of this city into the most prestigious university his grades will allow.
School was… well, it was a means to an end. An evil to be suffered to allow him to get away from his family. It was fine, really. Just, lonely, sometimes.
Still, now that A Levels had been chosen, he was sure that he wouldn’t have that many – if any – classes with some of the more… obnoxious characters in his year-
“Hi!”
He was interrupted from his musing by someone flinging themselves down in the empty space beside him. Turning towards the unfamiliar voice, he halted when he was met by a shock of red hair, and wide, genuine smile. He was accustomed to dealing with unkindness disguised as good-natured ‘teasing’ but friendliness was something he’d forgotten. Still, there was something about this new girl…
“…hi.”
*
“I didn’t think old Dumbles’ beard could get much longer,” Peter hissed at James, leaning over Sirius to do so.
“Hmm,” James murmured, gazing distractedly at something beyond either boy’s line of sight. Sirius glared pointedly at the elbow that Peter had digging into his stomach, and slouched further in his seat when it wasn’t moved.
Not bothering to listen to what Headmaster Dumbledore was saying – probably the same tripe about ‘standards of dress’ or ‘giving your best attention to your school work’ that they’d already heard a thousand times – Sirius let his eyes wander around the hall. Being the start of a new school year, he had a lot to learn beyond new tutor groups and new timetables. Important things. Idly he began to establish a mental inventory of who had a new haircut, who was sitting with different people to those that they finished the last school year sat with, new relationships, and relationships that seemed to have broken up, new students… Of course, there wasn’t much he didn’t already know, but things slipped through the net on facebook, some things weren’t put on facebook in the first place, but there was no hiding in reality.
“What’cha looking at?” Peter persisted, unwilling to stop talking even for the brief meeting. If he were talking to him, Sirius might not be so offended, but really, it was just rude to lean over him to talk to someone who wasn’t even paying attention.
“Mr Pettigrew!” Peter shot back into his seat like he’d been stung; sending a wounded look at Sirius as though this was somehow his fault. Sirius just looked back evenly until Peter let his gaze slide back to the front of the hall where Dumbledore was, for some unknown reason, gesturing enthusiastically.
“…and so I hope you all make any new students feel welcome. It can’t be easy…”
“I will certainly be making her feel welcome,” whispered James leaning into Sirius’ side, and finally tearing his gaze away from the front of the hall to leer at his friend.
“Sure you will, Prongsy, sure you will,” he agreed without bothering to look. There was a general murmur building in the hall as people began to push back their chairs and make their way to the nearest exits.
James turned back to Sirius, his expression intense. “No. I really mean it. I will. She’s perfect. Look at her.”
“Alright, jeez, calm down. What’s got you so wound up? And not being funny, but isn’t that what you’ve been saying about that girl at the café for the past three months?”
“She pales in comparison to this radiant beauty. That was but the crush of a boy.” James carried on breezing towards the door, oblivious to the fact that both Sirius and Peter had frozen and were now staring at him in disbelief.
“What, and you became a man in the last twelve hours? Also, what the fuck? What are you, Shakespearean?” James turned at the door, and looked back at his friends in the rapidly emptying hall. Peter opened his mouth, whether to offer support for James or Sirius it was unclear, but James cut him off.
“Are you questioning my love for the mysterious red-headed woman?”
“Um, yes. Yes I am. Tell me dear, what’s her name?”
“Fuck you, Padfoot.”
“Fuck you too darling. Now move. I hope you know where we’re going, ‘cause I sure don’t.”
“…uh, guys. I know you’re our resident old married couple and all that, but um-”
“Is this going somewhere Peter?” Sirius interrupted, tapping his fingers impatiently against the edge of his phone.
“Well, James,” Sirius rolled his eyes – Peter could always be relied on to bring the conversation back round to James. “This red head? Was she the new girl, sat at the front of the hall?”
“…yes?”
“The one sat next to Snivellus?”
There was a moment of resounding silence as Peter’s comment sunk in, before Sirius resolved into hysterics. “Oh, Jamie. You do know how to pick them, don’t you?” Cackling he finally stepped through the door, Peter for once trailing him, letting it swing shut on James’ shocked face.
“…what?” James asked feebly, muffled through the now shut door.
*
Ms McGonagall stared down at the register.
They were waiting on three boys.
You couldn’t pay her enough to be the least bit surprised.
*
Frank glanced around the room, smiling genially whenever he caught someone’s eye. It seemed that everyone knew one another already, although there were a couple of people who he thought could either be shy or, like him, new. Lily, who had attended his old school, was sat at a desk at the front of the room with a pale boy dressed all in black.
Though he knew her by face, Frank had never really spoken to Lily before; their old school was much larger than Hogwarts (and offered more vocational subjects at A Level, hence the move), but he thought that he remembered seeing her sat alone more often than he thinks anyone should have to. But she seemed to be chatting quite happily, so maybe she just didn’t get along with anyone at their old school.
Tipping his chair back precariously, he grinned at the girl next to him. “Frank Longbottom,” he said, offering his hand.
“Alice Fuller,” she said, taking the proffered hand with amusement. Frank, mostly in a show of false bravado, raised her hand to his lips, and pressed a gentle kiss to her knuckles. Alice snorted, and snatched her hand back, her cheeks colouring even as she rolled her eyes. Frank decided he might quite like this school.
“Alice! My darling! Light of my life! How could you do this to me?” Frank glanced towards the speaker, and had to resist the urge the duck for cover as a tall boy with a shock of unruly black hair flung himself over Alice’s shoulders. “Are you leaving me for the new boy?”
“Yes Sirius, I am,” she deadpanned. “He doesn’t use me as furniture.”
“How nice of you to finally join us, Mr Black,” McGonagall said, finally putting away the register.
Frank glanced back to the boy – Sirius – expecting him to finally release Alice. Instead, it seemed, he was all but sat in her lap, eyes dancing as he beamed at their form tutor. “Minerva! How are you? How was your summer? Was it glorious?”
“Don’t make me put you in detention on your first day back, Sirius. And please, find your own seat. I doubt Alice appreciates having you draped over her.”
“Oh, but you can’t,” he responded, hopping off Alice’s lap, and swinging up onto the table instead. “We’re in the Sixth Form now. You’re not allowed to give us detention.”
“My mistake,” she said with a smile, “We can just suggest that this school might not be best suited for your individual needs, and recommend an alternative.”
“That stings, Minnie. Right here,” he laid a hand across his heart, and looked imploringly at McGonagall, but nonetheless moved to sit beside James. On a chair.
“Now that the entertainment has run its course, I suppose you’ll all be wanting your timetables for the year?”
*
“James.”
“James. Stop staring.”
“No really. You’re creeping me out.”
“James. It’s getting weird now. Stop it.”
“Desperate times, Jamie, I’m sorry,” Sirius said, shoving James’ elbow off the edge of the desk, and trying not to laugh as his chin – previously balanced on his hand – came perilously close to colliding with the table.
“What was that for?”
“You starting to encroach on ‘stalker’ territory there,” Sirius pushed James’ timetable towards him. “Read your timetable instead. We don’t have any lessons together.”
James snorted at his friend’s displeasure. “Because that clearly wasn’t intentional. Here Pete, give me yours.” James went about busying himself comparing the three sets of timetables, Peter leaning across the table to see too. Sirius meanwhile engaged in his favourite pastime – people watching.
Snivellus wasn’t doing anything interesting – aside from talking to the apparent object of James’ affections today – and he wasn’t about to pick a fight on his first day back, right under McGonagall’s nose, so let his eyes wander round his new classmates.
There wasn’t anyone new except James’ red-head, and the boy in front of them who was flirting a little too hard with Alice – he’d have to keep an eye on him – and actually, he realised, a boy sat alone by the window. He looked the picture of innocence, he thought, listening attentively to whatever McGonagall was trying in vain to explain, until you noticed the headphone wires mostly obscured by his slightly-too-long hair, and the mess of biro – too delicate for Sirius to identify from across the room – filling the empty spaces on his timetable.
“You’re staring.”
“Mmm.”
“It’s creepy. Stop.”
“You smug bastard,” Sirius turned and smirked at James’ shit-eating grin.
“Practice what you preach, hmm?”
“You have my attention now – what do you want?”
“Nothing really, you’re just shockingly unsubtle. Anyway, you don’t have any lessons with either of us. Isn’t that lovely?”
“Piss off James. I happen to have other friends, you know. Alice, hey, Alice!”
“Yes my dear?” she asked, leaning over the back of her chair. Sirius didn’t miss the way the boy’s eyes flashed towards him, slightly sharper than was warranted, and thought he might have to put the boy off sooner rather than later; Alice, bless her soul, would be the last to realise he was flirting with her, no doubt.
“You have music with me, don’t you?”
“How many people do you think are going to take it? I doubt there’s even enough for one proper class, let alone two.”
“You’re always so mean to me.” Sirius pushed his lower lip forwards, and rested his head on his folded arms, looking at – “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”
“Frank,” he offered cautiously, “Frank Longbottom.”
Sirius raised an eyebrow, and the boy – Frank – rolled his eyes in understanding, “Tell me about it.”
“So, Lalice-”
“No.”
“Allie-”
“No.”
“Alice, then – you’re no fun, you know? – how’s the other half?” Sirius glanced at Frank and raised his eyebrows again, watching as Frank’s eyes widened slightly in understanding.
“Still asleep, I assume. It’s only half-ten.”
Sirius hummed non-committedly; the one time he’d met Katie, he hadn’t liked her, but she made Alice happy, and that was enough for Sirius.
The class fell into an awkward silence as groups of people are wont to do on occasion, and Sirius found himself watching the other new boy again. The light was catching his hair at weird angles, picking out amber highlights – huh, he thought, okay then. He’d stopped drawing on his timetable, his fingers tapping out a rhythm against the table edge, his headphones still resolutely in his ears.
“So-” McGonagall began, attempting to take advantage of the momentary silence.
“What the fuck is Enrichment?” Peter burst out, glaring suspiciously down at the sheet of paper.
“Whatever it is,” Sirius murmured, still staring at the boy across the room, “I don’t need it – I’m rich enough already.”
The boy’s head snapped round from where he was gazing absently out of the window, his eyes meeting Sirius’ across the room. Sirius felt his cheeks begin to flush in a way they hadn’t since he left primary school as the stranger raised a single eyebrow at him.
Turning to where James was currently slumped across the desk, tears of laughter streaming down his face, he smiled ruefully.
“I said that louder than I meant to, didn’t I?”