𝐀𝐔𝐑𝐎𝐑𝐀 | 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬

✧ chapter 1 ✧

1972

Sirius Black sat on the Hogwarts Express with his three best friends; James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. The previous year the four had been sorted into Gryffindor house and became fast friends, becoming nearly inseparable. On their second night in the first year boys Gryffindor dormitory James revealed to the other three that he had an invisibility cloak once he realised that they all had a taste for trouble like his. All three were sworn to secrecy on the condition that they were also permitted to use the cloak for pranking purposes. This meant that they also made quite a name for themselves as trouble makers. All four boys were bursting with excitement and anticipation at returning to school, no longer scared first years. James couldn't seem to talk about anything other than Quidditch as second year students were permitted to join the team. Remus decided against joining the team as he was constantly ill and felt it would be unfair to continuously let the team down by missing trainings and games. Peter wasn't trying out as he was rather clumsy and couldn't stay balanced on a broom to save himself. Sirius was rather good at Quidditch, no surprise there as it seemed he was good at everything, but also elected not to try out for the team as he knew he wouldn't be able to commit to attending regular practises. He also didn't like the idea of competing against James for a spot on the team.

Lily Evans walked past the second year Gryffindor boy's compartment with her best friend Severus Snape, a second year Slytherin boy with perpetually greasy hair that hung in a curtain over his face most of the time. Lily had also been sorted into Gryffindor house and quickly became the subject of James' affections, much to her dismay and the amusement of her friends. James' eyes followed after Lily and his face morphed into a sneer when he spotted Severus. The boys never understood why Lily hung out with him, as far as they were concerned he was a slimy git, but they didn't know him like Lily did. Lily and Severus had been friends for years and she wasn't about to abandon him. This caused a rift between the Gryffindor's as they all despised Slytherin house due to its reputation as a pureblood fanatic terrorist breeder. James in particular loathed 'Snivellus' as he had nicknamed him, as he had a not-so-secret crush on Lily and therefore was viewed as a potential threat. He would never admit it to himself, or anyone else for that matter, but it was obvious that Severus loved Lily and James hated that she spoke to him.

James let out an audible sigh and slumped in his seat, staring down at his lap. Sirius put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and the other boys gave him sympathetic looks. This didn't last long as the other Gryffindor girls walked past their compartment. All four boys sat with their mouths hung open as Aurora Faulkner, Marlene McKinnon and Mary McDonald glided past, not yet in their robes, providing the boys with a perfect view of how their pubescent bodies were changing. Aurora seemed to have grown even taller and had lost most of the baby fat from her face to reveal the start of a striking bone structure. Marlene had dyed her naturally dirty blonde hair a lighter honey blonde and was quite obviously wearing a real bra underneath her tight tee shirt. Mary looked the most childish of the three, but even she had grown up a bit. As soon as they had appeared the girls disappeared, slipping into an empty compartment a few down from the boys. All four males looked around at each other before Sirius voiced what they were all thinking; "I think I'm going to like second year."

Aurora let out a giggle as soon as she had sat down in her compartment, which was mimicked by the other two almost immediately. Just like Lily, Aurora, Marlene and Mary were sorted into Gryffindor house and thus became roommates and close friends. There were four other girls also sorted into Gryffindor house, Alice Verna, Morwenna Lestrange, Lillian Johansson, and Alyssa Prewett who shared the dorm across from the girls but were less confident and thus did not hang out with Lily, Marlene, Mary and Aurora much due to the constant trouble they attracted.

"Did you see the way they were gawking?!" Asked Marlene, obviously enjoying the attention.

Similarly, to the second year boys, over the school holidays the girls had discovered the opposite sex and as a result were mildly obsessed. Their trunks were filled with magazines and articles written by witches and muggles alike informing them on how to 'snag the boy of their dreams' and they were all certain they would meet the love of their life during their second year at Hogwarts. The only girl who seemed to have remained mildly sane, apart from Lily (although she was friends with Severus so was she ever actually sane?), was Aurora. While the other girls experimented with changing their appearance the only changes Aurora underwent were completely involuntary. She had shot up a further two inches leaving her at five foot seven inches and officially the tallest twelve year old at Hogwarts. This annoyed her and her mother as it meant they would have to make her a whole new set of clothes. During her first year of school, Aurora's parents had converted to full blown 'hippies' as the muggles called them. Aurora didn't mind; this lifestyle suited her easy-going personality very well. This also meant that she wasn't as into makeup as the other girls and spent a lot of time outside. She had spent a large portion of her school holidays explaining Quidditch to her parents and begging for a broomstick of her own. As she was muggleborn and had only discovered the sport the previous year Aurora decided that she needed all the help she could get if she hoped to make the team. She originally wanted to be the seeker but decided that as she grew taller and heavier she lost the speed she needed in order to really excel in that position. Instead, she settled on beater. At her muggle primary school, she had played softball and therefore thought she would be quite a good beater. She also liked the idea of hitting bludgers at Slytherins.

The girl's excited chatter about boys, Quidditch and school was interrupted by Lily sliding open the compartment door. All the girls smiled broadly at the redhead, but faltered when they saw Severus behind her.

"Do you mind if we sit with you?" Lily asked, a hopeful glint in her eyes.

"Sure, here Severus, sit." Aurora broke the awkward silence, scooting over to make some room. She didn't particularly like Severus, but Lily did, and she liked Lily so she tried to see the good in him. Just like she tried to see the good in everyone. Aurora could often be quoted saying 'there are no bad people, just bad circumstances'. While the other girls admired her spirit, they just couldn't bring themselves to replicate it and so the rest of the train ride was spent in awkward silence, broken by intervals of small talk and soft snores from Mary who elected to sleep the whole time.