Chap 3: The Marauders

.... be GRYFFINDOR! "He shouted the name of the house loudly in the hall and everyone at the table clapped enthusiastically when Claire got up and sat down next to them. Lily and her friends, who she had met on the train, waved her over and so she sat down Much to the astonishment of James, Sirius and Remus, but they didn't care anymore when dessert appeared.
When they were all satisfied and full of cleaning the last crumbs from their plates, the headmaster stood up. Immediately there was silence in the hall. Everyone listened to his words. "To our new students - Welcome! To our old students - Welcome back!" he began his speech which was answered with thunderous applause. When he raised his hand, it immediately went quiet again. "Our caretaker, Mr. Bloom, asked me to tell you that the list of Forbidden Things that can still be viewed in his office has expanded. The Forbidden Forest is for those who don't know and those who are slow should know, still FORBIDDEN. There are some changes this school year. After the appearance of Voldemord in the immediate vicinity of the school, the security measures have been increased a lot, and that means no Quidditch from the Ministry for the time being. "There was a murmur through the crowd, but fell silent when Dumbledore raised his hand again. "I know you won't agree, but by the time the selection games are over, I'm sure I'll have found a way for you to play. Despite everything, I wish you a good night's sleep, tomorrow is the first day of school of the new year. Hush After the headmaster had finished everyone broke into applause and with a deafening noise the benches at the long tables were pushed back almost synchronously. The prefects shuffled the first years and everyone else made their way to the common rooms of their homes.

Claire woke up from the first rays of sun tickling her nose and a deafening siren howl. She almost fell out of bed out of sheer shock, but managed to sit up straight and then storm out of the dormitory with Lily and the others. The stairs down to the common room had turned into a slide and the wailing sirens were even louder out here. Confused, she found that James and Sirius were standing side by side at the end of the train, looking up at them. "Potter! That was clear, as always you and Black." Lily groaned and rolled her eyes. "Hey Evans! I wanted to ask you if you want to have breakfast with me!" he called up to them. "I'd rather go out with a mop!" she replied calmly and went back to the dormitory with the others to get dressed. The siren stopped when they closed the door behind them."Potter's getting on my nerves. Can't he find another victim?" she asked exasperated while she was getting dressed. Claire looked at her with a grin. "I think it would be boring for him." she replied with a laugh and fished a stocking out from under the bed. "These marauders are only causing trouble!" scolded Becky, one of her new friends. When they were finally all dressed, they made their way downstairs.
After breakfast, Professor McGonagall handed out the timetables and with great grumbling the others realized which subjects they were taking with the Slytherins. "Great, a double hour of Potions, Charms and Metamorphosis with them!" Sirius loudly expressed his displeasure. "But at least Schniffelus is present, that makes the whole thing a little exciting." replied Krone with a grin and let a spoon float around. "Concentrate on the lesson at least once." Moony said reprovingly and got up to come to class. "Don't be a spoiler, Moony." said Krone with a laugh and they followed him.

Claire was excited about her first lessons and about the new teachers. All the lessons actually went as Lily and the others had predicted it and so it wasn't particularly exciting. When she heard James and Sirius rambling loudly over a certain "Schniffelus" at lunch, she asked Lily about it. "You're talking about Snape, he's actually quite nice, but you have something against him because he's from Slytherin. I just think this hostility towards houses is stupid. Potter especially doesn't like him because I like him." she explained, glaring at James. "And the marauders? Who are they?" she asked and while she was eating. "The Marauders, that's Potter, Black, Remus and Pettigrew. The worst pranksters in all of Hogwarts. Not a week goes by without them being detained at least once." Now she said with a mixture of admiration and disgust. Slightly confused, Claire finished eating and then made her way to Potions with the others.
When she arrived in the dungeon, she shared a table with Lily and they were given the task of preparing a polyjuice potion. At first everything went well, but at some point neither Claire nor Lily knew about their potion anymore. "Shit, what do we do now?" she asked slightly desperate. "Wait, I'll ask Severus if he can help us." she suggested and went to a table at which a boy with long, greasy hair and a hooked nose was stirring his potion. She exchanged a few words with him and then came back smiling. James shot angry glances in the direction of Severus, who skilfully ignored them. Lily came back and mixed a few things into the potion, which then took on the desired consistency. "He's unbeatable at Potions." she explained with a grin.At the end of the lesson they had needed a decent mixture, but Claire was still happy when the doorbell rang.

"So much homework!" Sirius groaned and stretched himself in one of the comfortable armchairs in the common room. It was pouring rain outside and the marauders sat around the big table trying to do their homework. "Hey Moony, let's copy it!" he asked his friend. "No, now at least try it yourself." replied this only shaking his head. The portrait swung aside and Claire stepped through the hole. "Who honors us there?" Sirius asked with a grin as she walked past them to the stairs of the girls' dormitory. "Me, if I get rid of these books." she replied and brought her books upstairs.
She took a deep breath when she was finally upstairs. She had just finished her Potions essay in the library with Lily and Severus. She was right, he was really nice and she didn't understand what the others had against him. She grabbed her things and then went down the stairs and sat down at the table with the others. "Do you already have the essay on Metamorphosis?" she asked Remus. "I just want to see if mine is right." Claire unrolled an eight-inch parchment and Remus pushed his essay towards her. "Have you made potions yet?" James asked her, slightly desperate. He had been working on the paper for an hour now. "Yes I have." she replied curtly and immersed herself in her essay. "A little while ago when you were in the library with Evans? Who helped you?" Sirius asked questioningly. "Severus, and before you say anything: he's very nice and I don't like this house dispute." was her only answer. It almost seemed as if he was about to hit the ceiling.
"Hey, come down paw!" Moony warned him. His archenemy, of all people! He was slowly going crazy. What was the matter with this girl? First she flashed him, and then that. Evans didn't seem to have a good influence on her ...