Take care, Azalea (Marauders Era HP fanfiction)

Three

A week had passed since Azalea joined Hogwarts, and she was finally starting to settle in. She had acquainted a friendship with the girl she met on her first day- Lily Evans- in addition to the other girls who she shared a dormitory with; by the names of Alice Fortescue and Marlene McKinnon.

Alice was a quiet girl like herself, who focussed on her studies and was determined to become an auror in the future. Marlene, on the other hand, was the total opposite. She was a girl who when she wanted something, she got it. Like many girls in Hogwarts, she too always glanced at Sirius Black. But unlike the others, he actually noticed her. She seemed a nice girl, despite having the majority of the male student population after her, and Azalea was happy to call the girl her friend.

After the night of the sorting and she and Lily had left the Marauders, Azalea still communicated with them quite oftenly. For instance, when she was trying to focus in class, James and Sirius would throw scrunched up pieces of paper at her. And every time the note would say the same thing: help us.

She didn't know what they needed help with; whether it was for their pranks (which she had to admit were good) or their education, but each time she would turn them down again and again. If she was honest, it was only James and Sirius who bothered her that much. Peter usually followed them around, but he seemed a nice boy. And Remus. He never really spoke to her. It was a shame really- he seemed incredibly nice and she wanted to be friends with him. The only problem was that she was too timid to make the first move.

As for her classes, Azalea was doing quite well. Her favourite subject was by far Defence Against the Dark Arts, for it was extremely interesting, and would help her to become an auror when she graduated from school. However, she disliked History of Magic, despite being good at the subject. It was the fact that the teacher was a ghost, was what made the lesson so boring.

Each time she had it, Azalea wouldn't pay attention and would catch up on homework instead. She had even contemplated skipping class once, but Lily caught her and told her not to do it unless she wanted detention. It wasn't that she was afraid of getting detention- which she wasn't- it was more of her not wanting to upset her newly acquainted friend. Azalea had especially not wanted to cause any trouble any time soon, for she hadn't been feeling very well recently. And she knew exactly what the cause was- the full moon was tonight.

She hadn't been able to sleep the night previous, so as she sat alone on the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, poking at her porridge, Azalea awaited Lily's arrival. Azalea awoke early that morning, therefore she decided to let the other girls rest. After all, it was a Saturday, and they probably wanted to sleep. However, what she hadn't anticipated, was that the Marauders would be awake so early on a weekend.

The doors to the Great Hall swung open to reveal the infamous Marauders, James and Sirius leading their gang and the other two following behind. She saw them look around for a seat, before their eyes fell on her. James then strode over towards her, taking the seat across. Sirius sat down beside her, Remus on James' left and Peter on his right.

Azalea looked at the boys sat with her in confusion- why on earth would they chose to sit beside her, of all people? Her eyes then landed upon Remus, who looked extremely ill. His skin was sickly pale; all the colour drained from his face. He had bags under his eyes, showing that he too hadn't been able to rest, and he seemed to be falling asleep on the table as they spoke.

"So, Azalea, what brings you here at five thirty on the morning of a Saturday?" Sirius asked, ruffling a hand through his already shaggy hair.

"Couldn't sleep," she mumbled, her eyes drooping a sleep finally began to overcome her.

She was then tapped on the shoulder, and when she peeled her eyes open, saw that James was the one to have awoken her.

"Hello... are you awake? As I said before, you really don't look well, maybe you should go to the infirmary," he suggested, to which she shook her head.