Feathers: The tale of the forgotten Marauder

Chapter 1

It was September 4th 1974 and the weather was miserable. All morning there had been nothing but rain and wind, knocking the trees against each other and sending whistling noises through the twins window. The sun seemed to be a dim orb of light behind the blanket of grey clouds, shining on the already dull home of the Potter's.

Lyra had woken up first, laying in bed staring at the ceiling. It was the morning of the start of her fourth year, and she was excited to see her friends again. Swinging her legs over the side of her bed, Lyra's bare feet made contact with the cold wooden floor. Pulling her fluffy blanket over her shoulders, she quietly made her way to her brother's bed.

"James, wake up. We need to get up, otherwise mother will be furious." Lyra whispered whilst gently shaking James' shoulder. She could hear the slight mumble come from his mouth but he refused to get up. She shook him again and again, already annoyed with the fact that he wasn't up yet.

Lyra could hear her mother's footsteps moving across the landing and she quickly rushed to put her blanket on her bed and dragged James out of his. When the door opened, Euphemia Potter saw both her children wandering around making sure that their cases were packed. She had no clue that her son had only just woken up.

Once the door closed again, Lyra turned to face her twin brother. He was wearing his signature smirk and smoothed out the covers on his bed.

"You need to stop doing that James, one of these days you'll get in trouble and I won't be able to help you." She says with her arms over her chest.

"Oh come on Lyra, you know you like the thrill as much as I do. You can't escape the mischief." James chuckles back.

Both of them continue to get ready, putting on the warmest clothes they could find and brushing their hair. Well James attempted to, his hair always stuck up at the back and there was no way to ever get it down. Lyra triple checked her cases to make sure she had all her things for the year at Hogwarts. Her father had already put her chestnut brown barn owl by the car. Lyra loved her owl, she'd called it Coco because of the pattern on its feathers.

Once they'd both checked their cases, Lyra and James went downstairs for breakfast. It was a fairly quick meal of toast and jam, with a lot of chatter. It was 9 o'clock when Fleamont Potter called out for Lyra and James to get their cases into the car. The two of them practically ran upstairs and back down, too excited to wait much longer.

Lyra and James sat in the back whilst their parents got in the front. A big smile already on her face, Lyra turned to face James. They were both thinking the same thing. Another year at Hogwarts meant more adventures for them and their friends. It was already going to be a great year.

"Are you both excited to see Sirius again?" Euphemia asked from the front seat, turning to look at the twins.

"Absolutely!" Lyra and James answered at the same time, laughing slightly at the irony. Sirius Black is James' best friend and he gets along quite well with Lyra although she feels that sometimes it's slightly awkward between the two of them.

It was a long car ride to London, taking almost an hour and a half to get to Kings Cross Station. Lyra and James ran to get carts for all of their luggage and made sure it was all secured safely. All four of them walked briskly towards platforms 9 and 10, aiming for the wall between them. Lyra began to pick up the pace and made a run at the wall, emerging on the other side of the station.

Platform 9 3/4 was packed with families sending their children off to Hogwarts. The gleaming scarlet steam engine was waiting with open doors. She almost couldn't hear her name being called over all the chatter but soon enough a heap of ginger hair covered her view.

"Lily!" Lyra laughed as her best friend wrapped her arms around Lyra's shoulders.

"Hurry, I already found the others, we're all waiting for you and James before we get on the train." Lily explains in a rush. Looking at the clock, Lyra sees it's 10:57am, she has three minutes to say goodbye and get on the train.

Rushing over to her parents, Lyra wraps her arms around them in a hug. She then makes a quick run to the train door where Lily is waiting for her. Lily leads her to a cabin towards the middle of the train and a smile fills Lyra's face.

All of her friends were sat chatting and laughing. The marauders were back together for another year of adventure.