Chapter Text
September first was one of Alexa Bennett's favorite days of the year. For the past four years, the day had been marked with the significance of her journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This time, she was returning to the castle to begin her fifth year of schooling. Her head spun with excited thoughts as she loaded her trolley cart with her trunk of belongings, her broomstick, and her owl's cage. The owl, a small screech owl named Pippin, was still sleeping peacefully, despite the traffic during the two hour drive to King's Cross Station. Alexa had traveled there in a non-magical fashion because, while she and her father were both trained in the use of magic, her mother was a Muggle and was rather wary of magical transportation. Alexa gripped the handle of the trolley and wheeled it in the direction of Platforms Nine and Ten, her parents following closely behind. Once she reached the area of the station near the brick wall between the two platforms, she paused her walking and turned around to face her parents.
"Well, I guess this is it," she said rather weakly. Alexa hated goodbyes- she had always thought that they were a little awkward, and more than a little sad. She moved to hug her mother first.
"Be safe," her mother said in a soft voice, kissing the top of Alexa's head. "Remember to write, and let us know when you'll be home for the holidays."
"I will," Alexa said with a smile, withdrawing from her mother's hug and turning to her father. He smiled at her and she hugged him tightly for a moment before backing up to kiss him on the cheek fondly. "Take care of yourself. And Mum," she told him.
"Will do," he promised. "Don't get into too much trouble!" Her father's sarcastic tone revealed the lack of seriousness behind his words. Alexa was studious and well-behaved and she had yet to receive a detention, or even a particularly negative comment, from any of her professors.
"I make no promises," she replied jokingly, flashing a wide smile. "I love you both," she said as she turned to face the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten. She turned back for a second, just long enough to blow a kiss in the direction of her parents, liking to believe that the little piece of her love for them had flown through the air and had landed in their presence, to stay with them while she was gone. Alexa turned the trolley and herself to face the brick wall and took a breath. Even though she had done this four times before, it was still a little nerve-wracking. People didn't normally run into brick walls and when they did, it almost always resulted in injury... unless you were a wizard or witch making his or her way onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, in which case, you would pass directly through the wall and emerge onto the platform beyond.
Alexa's hands gripped the cart securely and she took off at a jog, increasing her speed as she approached the barrier. Steeling herself against the natural instinct to redirect her path, she closed her eyes and ran, feeling an odd sensation of something washing over her as she passed through the supposedly solid wall. She slowed her run to a walk as she emerged on the other side and opened her eyes to reveal the sight of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. The Hogwarts Express, a gleaming red and black engine with the Hogwarts crest painted on the front, sat on the rails, white clouds of steam periodically floating out of the top. The platform bustled with students (some already in their Hogwarts robes and some dressed in Muggle attire), their parents, and trolley carts with various trunks, boxes, and pet cages balanced on top.
As Alexa walked by some of these cages, Pippin awoke and began to screech quietly at other owls as they passed. She tapped lightly on the outside of his cage once to get his attention. "Hush, Pip. You can talk to your friends at the owlery tower once we get to school." Her efforts were fruitless, of course, as Pippin continued to make noises toward his fellow feathered creatures. To his credit, he did lower the volume and the sounds become more of a calm hoot.
Pippin's distraction echoed that of his owner. Alexa had gotten so caught up in saying goodbye to her parents that she had forgotten that they had been running a few minutes late. Having glanced at the large metal clock on the wall of the station, she realized that the train left in only five minutes. Alexa hurried through the gradually thinning crowd, and made her way onto the train, her things stowed away on a car where everyone's belongings were kept before being magically sorted out and delivered to each student's room upon their arrival at Hogwarts. She traveled to the passenger cars of the train and glanced into each section through the glass doors as she passed, trying to find her best friends.
"The Marauders" was the name with which they had self-christened their group. James Potter was the presumed leader of the four friends. While he could be a little arrogant and reckless at times, Alexa could see that he was intelligent and had a good heart. After all, she had known James since they were very young. Her Aunt Delia had lived in a house next to the Potter family, and the two children had often played together when Alexa visited her aunt during the summers. While the two were very different, they got along with each other well and were like brother and sister.
Sirius Black was the second member of the Marauders, and he was very much like James. Perhaps that was why they were such inseparable friends. Handsome, with dark hair and striking eyes, he was the object of so many girls' romantic intentions at school... and he knew it. He would be flirtatious with them and arrogant when around the other boys, but his outward personality masked a loyal friend and a determined spirit. Alexa knew that she could depend on Sirius, even if he was sometimes a bit annoying about his status of being the heartthrob of their year.
Peter Pettigrew was a little odd, but had somehow managed his way into the group. Alexa thought it was because he admired James and Sirius like they were his idols, but she'd never say that to him. Despite his quiet nature and plain appearance, Peter was still a nice boy that all of them had learned to trust. Alexa often helped him with his Charms homework, since it was his most difficult subject and her best one. Alexa had found out that his mild shyness hid a fair amount of intelligence and a funny boy who liked to make his friends laugh.
Remus Lupin, the fourth and final member of the Marauders, was most like Alexa. While he had been sorted into Gryffindor (like the other three boys), he showed the most Ravenclaw traits Alexa had ever seen in someone from another house. And she would have known, for she was a Ravenclaw herself. Remus was wickedly smart and had a talent for retaining information. He was the one that helped James and Sirius with their homework when they procrastinated, which was more often than not. He and Alexa would study for their classes and exams together, often spending a lot of time in the library. Remus was quiet, but not as quiet as Peter. Even though he often acted studiously, Alexa could see why he had been sorted into Gryffindor. He was fiercely loyal to his friends and bold with his opinions, always strongly standing up for what he believed was right. He was exceptionally good at helping people feel better as well, and he had a nice smile...
Alexa pushed thoughts of Remus out of her head as she found the compartment that her aforementioned friends had occupied that afternoon. She tapped lightly on the glass, smiling and waving at them when they all looked up at the source of the knocking. Sirius got up from his seat and slid open the glass door, waving her inside with enthusiasm. She stepped in and Sirius shut the door behind her, muffling the noise from the train corridor.
"Alex!" James practically shouted her nickname and rushed at her for a hug. She laughed and hugged him back, once she was sure he wouldn't topple her off balance.
"Hey, James. How are you?" she asked as they broke apart.
"Fine, except for the fact that my favorite Ravenclaw didn't visit me over the summer." He looked at her pointedly as he ended his sentence.
"Oh, don't tell me you're still upset about that!" she exclaimed as they all took a seat, Alexa positioned between Sirius and Remus, with James and Peter on the bench across from them. "I wrote to tell you that I was on holiday in Italy with Mum and Dad."
"I got the letter," James replied. "Doesn't mean I can't still be upset with you about it though." He stuck his tongue out at her childishly, playing at the idea that he was offended by her rejection of visiting the Potters over the summer.
"He was fine, Alex. I stayed with him for almost three weeks and, trust me, we weren't bored," Sirius interjected with a grin while Alexa rolled her eyes at James. Now she turned to Sirius, an unspoken question hanging in the air between them. "My parents were being insufferable," Sirius said shortly, by way of explanation. "I needed to leave for a little while."
Alexa nodded understandingly. The Blacks were a notoriously pure-blood, Slytherin-dominated family. Sirius defied his parents at every opportunity, not just out of spite or to be rebellious, but because he genuinely hated the majority of his family and their values.
"Although," Sirius continued in a considerably more happy tone, "James's family did offer to me a place to stay if I need it, and we've been thinking that maybe I'll just move in next summer."
"Then I will have to visit, just to make sure you two don't get into too much trouble," Alexa said with a smile.
"Oh, Alex, you just like to take all the fun out of everything," James told her. "Go sit in the corner and read a book with Moony."
This was in fact what Moony, or Remus, to use his proper name, was doing. A spellbook was sitting open in his lap, illuminated by the sunlight falling through the train window that was next to him. He studied the pages thoughtfully, his eyes focused on each line of text and on the diagrams before turning the page. At the mention of his name he had looked up, and those thoughtful eyes had met Alexa's own. "You're more than welcome to read as well," Remus told her. "It's a book I found on a shelf at home and it looks pretty old. It's got some potentially useful spells though."
"Wow, what a nerd," Sirius joked.
"Are there any spells in there that might shut his mouth?" Alexa asked Remus, whilst gesturing toward Sirius on her other side, who looked offended at her question.
Remus laughed. "Not that I'm aware of. Although I did find a spell that translates other languages into the language of your choice."
Alexa expressed her enthusiasm at seeing this spell, and Remus flipped through a couple of pages in an attempt to find it. James muttered a comment about there being no need to study, seeing as they hadn't even gotten to school yet, but than began a rather lively conversation with Sirius about girls at school, of which Peter became a spectator, leaving Remus and Alexa to their own private conversation. They pored over the book with interest for several minutes, marking pages they thought might be useful with little slips of spare parchment as makeshift bookmarks. After a good long while of pointing out spells to each other and Alexa tearing strips of paper to place inside the book, she decided to change the subject.
"How was your summer?" she asked, a bit shyly.
"Good," Remus smiled. " Not very interesting, but I did visit with some family for a while. How was Italy?"
"It was beautiful!" she gushed. She had thoroughly enjoyed this summer's family holiday. "We visited Venice and Rome, and, oh my gosh, the architecture was amazing, and the sunsets..." Alexa rambled on animatedly about the trip while Remus listened intently, smiling at her enthusiasm. They continued talking, about Italy and other things, for quite some time until James interrupted them.
"Hey, nerds!" he practically yelled. With James Potter, nearly everything was loud and interesting- something which was rather startling inside a small train compartment, but was otherwise a good quality in different circumstances.
After Alexa recovered from her surprise at his interjection she prompted him with "What is it?"
"We're almost there, so you should probably get changed." Alexa looked down at herself and around at the Marauders and realized that, while they were already dressed in their Gryffindor robes and uniforms, she was still in her jeans and hoodie. She stood up from her seat and walked to the glass door of the compartment, sliding it open.
"I'll be back soon. Don't leave without me!" Alexa said brightly, before leaving on her way to change clothes, with a bounce in her step at the happy prospect of returning to Hogwarts.