Whatever!, Remus J. Lupin

1. The End of Year 2

It was all slowly coming to an end, Marie's break from the s.t mungos but the separation of her and her only family left, Arthur her little brother for the last two school years they were forced to hug and say goodbye but this coming year was the last as he would also be attending Hogwarts the following year.

  Marie was snapped out of her head when she heard a group of older girls leaving the dorm with their luggage. She quietly smiled to herself packing away all her books into the bottomless suitcase she charmed.  The tall lanky figure sat on the bed taking her wavy locks into the twists of braids and ending them with two black bows, she stood up smiling to herself trudging on to find her dearest friend Alida Vanderbilt the two had been stuck like glue since the first day of their Hogwarts career. The girl waltzed down the hall to meet the girl at the arranged place she rejoiced seeing the shorter girl with light-brown hair and bright blue eyes smiling about also excited to see her family, as she had a also had brother awaiting her at her house Benjamin Vanderbilt although he was much much younger than Arthur.

  She slowly crept up upon the girl preparing to frighten her, "AHH!" She exclaimed loudly from behind the kind girl, "AH! Oh my merlin Marie! I hate you sometimes..." she spoke breathlessly as Marie cackled loudly echoing throughout the halls of the old building. "Young ladies if you keep up this dilly-dallying you shall miss the train back home, I see that the rest of your posse has already made the trip." an eerily familiar voice croaks out from behind. The two girls stop laughing as they hear their professor speak from behind them, both staying silent until Marie speaks up "Sorry Minnie we were just about to make the trip to the train, you can accompany us if you'd like?" She spoke lightly. The woman almost appears stunned at the offer she goes back to the stoic expression as quickly as it left, "I thank you kind young ladies for the offer but I have some things to attend to before I leave." She offered a rare smile. "If you insist," Marie shrugs as she pushes up her glasses turning a heel to walk out of the castle Alida trailing right beside her as they make their way to meet up with some fiery-headed twins.

They spoke of many different topics as they made their way to the train stopping as they reached their planned cart hearing the boisterous laughter before even opening the door. The girl opened the cart with a small smile adorning her face looking upon the sight of identical twins tussling around for what appeared to be a chocolate frog and a small boy with short locs hysterically laughing. The shorter girl pushes through with a tired look plopping herself upon the seat beside the boy they know as Lee, the two twins finally stop fighting forgetting about the lone chocolate frog "Took you two long enough!" George shouts at the two with an award-winning smile "Georgie's right you two took forever..." Fred drags out. "Yeah yeah.. you two are just so impatient thats why everyone likes Lee more.." she states with a smug smile knowing that it would light a fight between them.

The twins bickered back and forth with Marie and Lee while Alida sat with her head slumped into the window sawing logs. They talked and talked and talked some more until George and Lee followed along slowly seeping into slumber. The lone stragglers sat in a comforting silence recalling and reflecting on the year they had experienced together. She thought about telling them about her... furry problem, that's what Alida had dubbed it as she had informed Alida about her condition, she trusted her more than anything. The two young kids have not had very breezy lives so far down the line. She trusted Fred and George more than anything but they were pure-bloods, and they came from a family that didn't even like Slytherin, what would they say when they found out she wasn't even who she claimed to be? She didn't know what they would do, they were pranksters for crying out loud what they do with that information could go on for hours. Her thoughts cease to exist as she thinks of all the amazing pranks and mishaps the group has caused these last two years and how much they have seemed to care about her. She smiled deciding not to worry about this topic just happy to have these friends- no family. The girl smiled somberly to herself, finally letting up on the fight to stay awake as she drifted into a comfortable sleep beside Fred who had nodded off minutes before.

  Marie and all the others were awakened by the sound of prefects knocking on cart doors yelling about getting off the train or something else she wasn't listening to. She was smiling looking at the bedheads in front of her all sitting sleepy-eyed with tousled hair complying sleepy eyes, "Well I know you and George plan on waiting for Big Head to get off the train but I have to go before Mrs.Oldaker leaves me." She says casually mentioning the two older brothers Percy. Ms.Oldaker was a mean, cruel, prejudiced old bag in Marie's words. The woman had hated her since her and her young brother the minute they trotted into the walls of the home, the run down, dirty, and grimy home. "Marie wait for me.." Alida slurs out sleep still lacing her voice heavily the girl wipes her eyes and tries to fix her bedhead as best as she can.

  Marie and Alida quickly gave the twins and Lee hugs suddenly perking up knowing they were about to see their brothers for the first time since Christmas, "My Merlin who knows how much Benjamin has grown since Christmas.." she says referencing the fast-growing 1 and a half year old. "Ugh, stop that I want him to stay little forever.." she lets out in a sigh, "Oh my Merlin. Arthur is going to Hogwarts this coming year..." Marie lets that sit in with a dumbfounded look until Alida looks at her with a look, "I know, we talked about this the other day!" She chuckles knowing that it's just now sinking in. "Yeah, but I wasn't thinking about it then now it's like.. really real." She laughs as they come upon Mrs.Oldaker and Alida's grandmother. "I love you so much and I'm so glad you my friend Marie.." Alida says hugging the taller girl tightly and getting slightly emotional, "Well I'm glad that you let me be your friend too... I don't know what I'd do without you," she paused seeing Mrs.Oldaker eyeing her with an expecting look telling her to wrap it up "Sorry for cutting this short but I have to go make sure to write!" She said quickly sprinting over to all the other kids that stayed at the home.

(1077-wc)