white mustang, marauders era

one

let it be known that dottie lupin was not a morning person. the idea of waking up while it was still dark out just to be ready for something on time quite frankly made her want to pass out. this being said, here she was at six in the morning in the dining hall.

she had never normally done this — woken up so early. however, she was hoping to avoid a certain band of boys who would often times find themselves sat with her. in the past, they had only sat with her on occasion. only really if they caught her eye before getting to the gryffindor table. simply, it was out of pity. now, though, it was hardly ever that they sat at their own table. the 'marauders' — so they called themselves —, for people with so much pride in their house, they hardly ever sat with it.

so here she was, barely awake, trying to stomach her breakfast at the crack of dawn. it's not that she was ungrateful that her brother and his friends had taken it upon themselves to make sure she had friends, but she would prefer if they left her to her own devices.

dottie thrived more alone than she had ever done with someone by her side. she didn't need anyone. it's not like people needed friends, right?

just as she was about to finish her food, a loud, obnoxious, grating voice came from the entrance of the hall. "you seriously didn't have to drag us out here when its still basically the middle of the night, moony!"

james potter was, to put it bluntly, the most annoying of all her brothers friends. not that dottie would ever tell him that, of course, but still it's true. the boy did not know when to stop talking.

maybe if she just kept her head down they wouldn't notice that it was her. maybe they'd just assume it was some random ravenclaw who woke up early to eat. dottie furrowed her brows as she wondered why the infamous 'marauders' were actually up so early. by the sounds of it, it was remus' idea, which honestly, dottie could've easily guessed. however that doesn't make her any less curious.

"shut up, prongs." sirius black was easily most annoying after james. he talked too much, but not nearly as much as james potter. sirius black also had a huge ego, too.

still not looking up, dottie silently cursed in her mind as she heard their footsteps stop. they couldn't be at their spot again the gryffindor table, no, they didn't sit up front.

the voice of james potter confirmed her thoughts as he loudly exclaimed, "moony, isn't that our dot over there?" he asked, although he didn't need an answer, he knew it was her. "up so early? surely not!"

dotties head shot up, her eyes wide as she silently prayed to any and every god that they'd leave her be just for today.

clearly, the gods didn't hear her as she heard her brother say, "oh, yeah. come on, then."

her arms crossed on the table, her head landing in the centre of them. as they got closer, she thought of any sort of excuse she could to leave. she could say she's going to the library, but remus would gladly skip his breakfast to go with her. she could say she's going to her room to continue getting ready for the day, but she knew sirius and james wolf absolutely ask follow up questions, such as 'what else could you possibly need to do', or 'you look fine as it is, just stay here'.

"you alright, dot?" james asked with a bright smile as the four boys sat down in front of her.

she lifted her head up and gave him a strained smile, "yeah, hi." she replied bluntly. normally, although she just wanted to tell them to leave her alone, she'd at least attempt to be friendly. today, however, she was just not in the mood. she had woken up early, gone to bed late and was extremely exhausted.

remus' brows furrowed at her short reply, "are you alright, spot?"

spot was a nickname that remus had taken to calling her when the pair were around four. he used to make fun of her for her name, calling her spottie rather than dottie. over time, the nickname had turned into something more meaningful. 'spottie' became 'spot' and the reasoning was no longer teasing.