Marauders in Time

New Students

"How on Earth did we get into this mess?" Sirius asked aloud once they had passed the gargoyle statue.

"Ask Evans," James said bluntly.

"What?! How is this my fault?"

"You fired the curse."

"And Sirius deflected it!"

"Are you saying its my fault?" Sirius's temper started to rise.

"No! I am just saying if you guys didn't provoke me-"

James looked taken aback, "Provoke you? All we were doing was looking for Snivellus until you butted in."

"Don't you dare put the blame on me, James Potter! You've done enough damage in my life already!"

"Guys!" Peter hissed warningly.

The Marauders and Lily turned around to where a woman was approaching them, her red gown sweeping the floor. She seemed to be holding a letter in her hand as she approached the group stopping right in front of Peter, who cowered behind her stature.

"You must be the new students Dumbledore said was here," the woman said. "I am Professor McGonagall and I will be your Head of House of Gryffindor."

Sirius whispered towards James next to him, "McGonagall is still here? She aged."

James tried to contain his laugh as McGonagall eyed each and every one of them, giving him a particularly long stare, as though studying him. It made him uncomfortable but she shook her head as though disapproving any thoughts she had. 

"Well I have your timetables here. Dumbledore told me a few nights ago that we might be getting new students in the fifth year. I believe you are all fairly comfortable with the coursework we study here?"

Everyone nodded, though Peter did so unconvincingly. Remus added, "We were all homeschooled."

"Yes," McGonagall said. "Dumbledore also mentioned that. Well I should probably introduce you to the entire house. It is currently past evening hours so most people should be asleep. However, I daresay the Weasley twins are probably causing havoc in the common room as we speak."

McGonagall led the way towards the Fat Lady portrait, who seemed to want to study the new students closely as well. So much so that she didn't hear McGonagall say the password the first time.

"Hear we go," McGonagall said as the portrait door swung open. "This here is the common room where students usually hang out during their free time. Attention everyone!"

The Marauders pretended to look amazed as though this was their first time here while Lily eyed the room cautiously. There were plenty of people in the common room, all in their little friend groups and talking amongst themselves. The only ones making the slightest bit of loud noise were two tall, red-headed boys who looked like twins. Weasley twins, as McGonagall said.

"As of tonight, we will be having new students," she said calmly. "They will be in their fifth year and have been homeschooled for the last 5 years. However, some family inconvenience has occurred and as such, they will be here for the remainder of the year. Here we have Daniel Barone, Reuben Holmes, Samuel Rose, Thomas Magree and Ruby Haddrill. Please do make them feel welcome."

McGonagall turned to say to the Marauders and Lily, "your dormitories are upstairs and there will be 5 extra beds for all of you. 4 in the boys dorm and 1 in the girls."

She proceeded to leave the room while the commotion continued. Some went forward to greet the rest. The Weasley twins introduced themselves to James and Sirius as Fred and George. Two girls introduced themselves as Parvati and Lavender towards Lily, who immediately dragged her up to the girls dorm. James noticed her now-brown hair disappear up the marble staircase and James motioned towards the rest to follow suit. Sirius broke himself from a boy called Lee Jordan, following his best friend up the marble staircase into an empty dorm, where there were 9 4-poster beds, 4 of them being empty. Sirius immediately took the one closest to the window while Peter slumped into a bed next to him.