𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑, ᴊ. ᴘᴏᴛᴛᴇʀ

𝐓𝐖𝐎

𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐀𝐒 running late. So very late. It's his first day of 7th-year classes, and he's late. Which is fantastic for his Head-Boy status.

In his defense, so were the rest of the boys. Remus and Frank were furious upon realizing the time, Sirius and Peter not so much. They'd missed breakfast, but he could still make it to potions relatively on time.

Thank Merlin Slughorn is his teacher because James was always one of his favorites. When he finally reached the dungeons, he tried to walk in as subtly as possible. But, if you know James, then you know he did no such thing.

"Mr. Potter, lovely to see you!" Slughorn called from his desk. The class turned for his arrival, and all the Gryffindors smiled at him. Most of the Slytherins rolled their eyes and went back to their work. "There is one spot left," Slughorn smiles, directing him towards the desk. It's near the front and already holding three people.

James nearly grimaced at his partner's options. I mean, he's a pretty open-minded guy, but these three might be where he draws the line. There's Dorcas Meadows, Nathaniel Nott, and- Merlin help him, Aries Black. "Ms. Meadows doesn't have a partner, yet,"

"Great," James mutters, making his way over to the girl. She's not too bad, he thinks. Marlene has fancied her since their third year, so maybe he could help her. "Hi, I'm James," He smiles, reaching his hand out to her.

"I'm aware, Potter," Dorcas says, rolling her eyes. "We've been going to the same school since we were 11," He hears Nott snicker at the comment when he glances up, he sees Aries smirking too.

"Right," Deciding he's embarrassed himself enough, he starts grabbing his textbook to see what assignment they're doing.

Once he found it, he remembered that this was advanced potions; a 7th-year class. Aries is a 6th year. "Aries?" He asks, looking up at her.

"Yes, Potter?" She barely glances at him as she continues her work, Nott was simply handing her things. They'd never seemed particularly close, but when you saw them together they moved so fluidly. Like one knew exactly what the other was about to do.

"Aren't you in 6th year?"

"I am," She sounded so bored, he'd never met anyone less interested in talking to him. It was off-putting.

"This is a 7th year class,"

"Very observant of you," Next to him, Dorcas laughs. How is he supposed to survive the year with these three?

"That didn't answer my question," James says, tilting his head to the side.

"You didn't ask a question," She, oddly enough, reminds him of Sirius right now. They have the same annoying half-smirk. He wonders if they've ever been told how alike they look.

"Never mind," He groans, looking back down at his book. The topic died after that, as did most of the conversation for the rest of the class.

This was going to be a long year.

༄༄༄

𝐎𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐂𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐒 were finished for the day, everyone made their way to the dining hall. The marauders sat at the Gryffindor table, Sirius and Peter on one side, James and Remus on the other. As they talked about their days, Peter said something interesting.

"Sirius, did you know that your sister is in advanced Herbology?" Sirius turned his head to face the boy next to him, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Isn't that a 7th-year class?"

"She is also in advanced Potions," James adds. He almost felt guilty admitting he had a class with her, he wasn't quite sure why.

"I have Transfiguration and Charms with her," Remus shrugs, taking a bite out of his chicken. "I've always had at least one class with her since 3rd-year,"

"What?!" James and Sirius exclaim at the same time. How has this never been mentioned?

"Yeah, she's been in advanced classes since her 2nd-year," Looking up at Sirius, Remus continues. "How did you not know this, Pads? You lived with her,"

"She didn't tell me shit," Sirius says, eyes cast down at the table. "We barely spoke when we were home," Almost like he realized something, he looked back at Remus. "Wait, how did you know this aside from being in a class with her?"

"We're friends,"

"You're what?"

"Friends,"

"Since when?" Sirius asks, incredulously.

"Since 3rd-year,"

"You guys didn't know?" Peter finally chimes in, finishing his food. "I see them in the library together all the time,"

Before James or Sirius could react, the lights in the dining hall started flickering. Everyone looked up, teachers included, but Sirius. His eyes went directly to the Slytherin table like he knew what was happening.

The other three Marauders followed his line of sight to his sister, who was being ushered out of the hall by her twin. Out of instinct, Sirius went to follow, but Peter grabbed his arm, subtly shaking his head.

"What if she needs help?" Sirius whispers to the boys. James gets it, but he wonders why Sirius is so quick to help someone who doesn't give him the time of day.

"Look," Remus nods to the teacher's table, where Professor Autumn is slipping out of one of the side doors. "She's close with Aries, yeah?" Sirius nods in response. "So, she has Regulus and Professor Autumn; she'll be okay,"

James can't help but hope it's true. For his brother's sake.