The Marauders: Year One (female)

27. A Fine Way to Break Tradition

It was another typical dinner at the Gryffindor table. The Prewett twins were standing on the benches, yelling something, and Olivia and McGonagall were yelling back at them to shut up and get down as equally loud. Lillian was staring wistfully at the Slytherin table as usual, to where Severa sat, looking victimised by the older Slytherins.

Petra was stuffing her face in noisily, Sirius was in a fight with Mason McKinnon, and Frankie was covered in food from a tray she'd knocked off the table. She seemed to be in a fight over cleaning with a determined House-Elf, who insisted that Frankie didn't eat any sausages off the floor, to Frankie's dismay.

Despite the chaos, the table was also abuzz with gossip about the new Defense teacher. So far, only the Slytherins and Hufflepuffs in First Year had had a class with her, and Jamie was desperate to see what the famed ex-Auror would be like as a teacher.

What she'd heard made her very excited. The Slytherins detested her, seeing as she'd probably put half their parents in Azkaban, which only made Jamie like her more, but the Hufflepuffs had practically sung her praises from the rooftops.

Of course, given the fact that they were Hufflepuffs, thought Jamie cheekily, meant that they were liable to do that about anybody who showed them what could be considered common decency by most of the population.

Caradoc Dearborn and Greta Catchlove seemed to be particularly smitten.

Jamie looked around for someone to talk to. Remus looked like she was dying, Petra was still eating, and Sirius hadn't finished her shouting match yet. In that moment, Jamie honestly didn't know why she'd picked this lot to be her friends.

She turned to face Remus, across the table. 'So, what do you think about Paisley, eh? From what the Hufflepuffs say, she's definitely a class to look forward to, but we can hardly trust what they say, can we?' It was a lame attempt at a jest, and Jamie knew it.

Remus lifted her eyes from her plate with great difficulty, and stared at Jamie with weary eyes, not seeming to have heard what she said. 'What?'

Jamie was alarmed to see deep, purple rings around her eyes. 'I said,' she repeated impatiently, 'What do you think of Paisley? Do you think she's as good as the Hufflepuffs make her out to be?'

Remus shrugged, her shoulders slumping anyway. 'I dunno, mate. I reckon that even the Hufflepuffs can't have exaggerated that much. Maybe she just is that good.'

Jamie shoveled a forkful of peas down her throat. 'I hope so.'

There was a pause. 'You should eat, mate,' she said with concern, noticing Remus staring rather apathetically at her plate. 'It isn't good for you to starve yourself. Plus, you're looking rather peaky these days.'

A look of horror crossed Remus's face at Jamie's words, and she immediately began to devour her food at a pace that would have made Petra envious, had she looked up from her food at all.

Jamie frowned, watching her with mild alarm. 'I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just meant that you should give eating a go.'

Remus slowed down a fraction, but she seemed to have discovered her appetite. Jamie noticed she kept looking nervously at Sirius the whole while. 'Do I really look that peaky?' she asked hurriedly, around a mouthful of potatoes.

Jamie took in her thin, anxious face, and frail body. 'Nah. You look fine,' she said, giving Remus a half-smile. 'Don't worry about it.'

Remus nodded shortly, and continued to eat.

It seemed that that was all Jamie was getting out of Remus for today.

The weekend went by quickly, and Sirius and Jamie exploded a few toilets, and got in a high-speed chase with Filch and his satanic kitten, as well as befriending a ghostly pervert called Moaning Myrtle, who haunted the girl's toilets on the second floor.