Forever Young (Sirius/OC)

Chapter 3

The rest of the journey passed by without any major incidents - apart from the 'small' explosion in one of the compartments that some Slytherins had resided in, the compartment the marauders had been spotted lurking around near the time of the accident. It was all completely coincidental, of course - especially the fact that one of the Slytherins in the compartment just so happened to be Severus Snape, or as Alex and the marauders liked to call him; Snivellus Snape - much to Lily's disapproval.

Remus and Lily had returned to the compartment shortly after, to Alex's relief.

As the train slowed to a steady stop the magnificent view of the castle came into view. Hogwarts was one of those things that no matter how many times you see it, it blows your mind every time. The castle was illuminated by the light of the moon in an array of wonderful dark blues and purples.

Lily lightly tugged on Alex's elbow. "Come on, before we miss the carriages."

Alex nodded slowly, before tearing her eyes away from the castle and left the train with Lily - the marauders having quickly disappeared.

As the first few carriages began to depart, Lily and Alex met with the rest of their psychotic friendship group. Marlene McKinnon, the gorgeous blonde may pay more attention to boys than her studies but she could give even Lily Evans a run for her money when it came to Ancient Runes - which Alex found highly useful when it came to the excessive amounts of homework.

Tammy Shafiq was as pure blood as she could get but was strongly against all the discrimination against muggle bloods and the recent news of Lord Voldermort and the Death Eaters. She was as honest and blunt as anything and told everyone how it was - no sugar coating and no lying.

Then, there was Dorcas Meadowes; a sweet girl who was beautiful in a simple way. Her pale complexion and pale blue eyes were often overlooked in favour of other people close to her like Marlene. She was an effortlessly trustworthy person with unwavering faith and a quiet, reserved girl when she wanted to be. On more than one occasion Alex had noticed how Dorcas seemed more herself around Marlene and was a headstrong, fierce woman when it was just them two.

After greeting each other excitedly after a long summer without each other, the girls clambered into a carriage and set off towards the castle.

"How's Jackson feeling Tammy?" Marlene asked the dark haired girl.

It was Tammy's younger brother's, Jackson, first year at Hogwarts and Tammy - of course - was beside herself with worry. She shrugged and sighed lightly, dropping her hand in her chin. "Doing better than me, I suppose. I just hope he's not in Slytherin, my parents would be ecstatic that at least one of their children is 'following the right path'."

Tammy raised her hands to make air quotes and Alex took her hand gently. "Are your parents still..." her voice trailed off at the look on Tammy's face. Her parents and older brother,of 19, were the complete opposite of her. They believed in pure blood supremacy and all that stuff that Lord Voldermort was preaching. Alex was the only one in their friendship group who could really understand how she was feeling. She hadn't seen her father in years...

The rest of the journey went by quickly and soon they were in the Great Hall sat at the Gryffindor table. Alex sat beside Tammy and Marlene, Dorcas and Lily sat opposite the two.

Marlene looked up from her plate and scanned the length of the Gryffindor table.

"Where are the 'Marauders'?" She asked and Lily rolled her eyes. "Who knows..."

The doors of the Great Hall suddenly swung open with a loud bang as soon as Lily had spoke and Alex found herself turning to watch with the rest of the school.