The Following

Chapter One: Back to School

"Oi! Remus! Wait up!" shouted Sirius Black as he ran down the platform at King's Cross Station. People jumped out of the way of the barely controlled cart filled with trunks, a cage, and a broomstick as it was steered helter-skelter by Sirius, yelling his pardons as he ran. He came to an abrupt halt in front of his friend, nearly hitting a poor old woman carrying groceries, "Thanks, mate. Nearly killed ten people, new record I think. Is James here yet?"

"I dunno, maybe he's already went through the barrier," said Remus sensibly, wheeling his cart up to the barrier between platforms nine and ten.

"Nah, he told me by owl over the holiday that he'd meet us outside the barrier by ten-forty-five. It's ten-fifty now. Where is the midget?"

"You know James and punctuality don't travel hand in hand," Remus reminded him. "He's probably just...oh look, there he is now."

A gangly boy of seventeen approached them, messy raven hair and thin-wired glasses the only thing that could distinguish him from the next boy. That and the fact he had a rather big gold shield pinned to his jacket.

"Hallo James!" Sirius greeted his best friend, then did a double take. "Oh, no, that isn't...you can't be...I'm ashamed! Simply ashamed!" he placed his arms around James shoulders and promptly pretended to sob dramatically, as if someone had died.

James patted his head patronizingly, "Nice to see you too, Sirs. And I'm surprised myself actually, but there you go."

"Being Head Boy is an honor, Sirius. Don't treat it as if he's grown an extra head that looks like Snape for God's sake!" Remus rolled his chocolate brown eyes.

"Ooh, that would be horrible, wouldn't it?" James commented. "Truth be told, though, I could at least wash his hair then."

"Small reward that'd be. Let's get through the barrier, shall we? The Muggles are staring at our owls like we were mad or something."

"All right, Padfoot, we're coming." The three best friends all slid through the magical barrier into Platform Nine and ¾ one at a time, as not to raise anymore suspicion than they already had. Once through, the trio met up with more of their friends: Frank Longbottom, Arabella Figg, Peter Pettigrew, and Mundungus Fletcher, to name a few. The group was laughing over a joke Frank told them about a contortionist hag and her nympho-vampire cousin when the whistle blew on the scarlet engine of the Hogwarts Express. They all filed into a rather large compartment and settled in for the long journey to Hogwarts.

"And she said 'You're soaking in it'! Sweet Merlin, that's a classic, Frank," Sirius slapped him on the back, still laughing over the joke. "Where did you hear it?"

"Oh, here or there," smiled Frank wickedly. "So, how was your holidays'?"

"About as spicy as a boiled potato. Nothing interesting ever happened." Complained Remus.

"Aside from the fact you turned into a vicious wolf once a month, right Moony?" grinned James.

"Aside from that, yes."

"Well, my summer turned out o be a total waste," commented Sirius. "I dated only five decent looking girls, and six who were, how should I put it? So-so."

"A total waste?" exclaimed Peter, who would have a better chance at becoming Minister of Magic than having a girlfriend. "I'd say you must've had loads of fun, wink, wink, nudge, nudge."

"Oh yes, Wormtail. There was that," smirked Sirius, then winked roguishly at Arabella, who was looking at the two of them in disgust. She promptly rolled her eyes at him.

"Honestly, Sirius, if I have to hear about your sexual escapades one more time, I swear I'll rid you of your most 'prized possession'." She looked pointingly at his pants and waved her wand menacingly.

"You wouldn't..."

"Carrying on," interrupted Mundungus. "James, how ever did you manage being dubbed Head Boy? With your reputation, you wouldn't think McGonagall would nominate you."

"You would think so, Mundy," James said. "In fact, I have absolutely no clue why I was chosen, come to think of it. Just the Potter name I guess," he said airily, with slight prestige. He flashed a grin soon after.

"Oh yes, Prongs, the Potter name does hold up for something," Remus' eyes twinkled with laughter. "If you wanted plates, that is."

The compartment was filled with laughter when suddenly the door slid open, revealing a rather ruffled looking girl with startling red hair and a gold badge on her robes.

"Is James Potter in here?" she looked at each person, finally resting her gaze on him. "There you are! You need to come up to the front compartment. All of the prefects are having a pre-Hogwarts meeting, and we need to be down there to instruct them on how to direct the first-years and so on." The girl said this very fast, as if by just standing there, she was wasting precious time.

"All right, all right, I'm coming," James slowly stood up and brushed off his gray slacks. "I'm guessing you'd be the new Head Girl?"

"Right in one," she smiled. "Lily Evans, Ravenclaw," she extended her hand and he took it and shook it firmly but friendly. "Charmed. Now if you'd be so kind to lead the way, Lily Evans, Ravenclaw, we can attend this meeting."

Lily gave him a malevolent look for the jibe as they both exited the compartment. Sirius reclined on the now empty seat and crossed his arms over his head, "My, my, if I knew that's what Head Girls looked like these days, I might have behaved as a child."

"Oh, I highly doubt it. Even if you were a perfect angel, and even the idea is laughable, you still would need brains," Remus pointed out, ducking and laughing as Sirius took a half-hearted swing at him.

"Now, now, Remus, just because you got more O.W.L.s than we've got fingers doesn't mean you can just go and put down the academically challenged," said Frank.

"Thank you." Sirius began to say, but Frank cut him off.

"Even if Sirius is more challenged than some."

"Just when you were on my good list too," he pouted, then joined in on the laughter. Sirius wasn't as stupid as his friends teased him about; in fact, he was brighter than almost everyone, except for Remus. He just didn't like to admit to the teachers that he was, even though it was obvious in the way he did things. This had always frustrated his professors to no end, which might have been the reason all along of why he kept up with the "slow-charade".

After the laughter had ceased, and Frank and Mundy started a game of Exploding Snap, Arabella got up to leave the compartment.

"Hey, where are you going?" inquired Sirius.

"To change," she informed him as if it were obvious. "We're almost to Hogwarts, if you hadn't noticed. And it's not like I can change into my robes in here."

"Well, if you want my opinion..." Sirius raised his eyebrow suggestively.

"I don't," Arabella said abruptly. "See you at the Sorting." She walked off down the corridor, her dark brown plaid swinging back and forth, her blue eyes never straying back towards the compartment. This was lucky for Sirius, who was at the time making faces at her retreating back.

"You know, she's right. We're about ten minutes away," Peter looked at his wristwatch.

"Might as well change into our robes then," Mundy laid down his card hand, which promptly exploded. "Damn, there goes the clear complexion," he sighed, wiping the soot off his face.

"Nah, black suits you," laughed Frank. "C'mon, let's get the robes on."

*****

When the Hogwarts Express arrived at Hogsmeade Station, everyone was in good spirits. The boys piled out of their compartment, joking and laughing the entire way as they searched for the carriages that would take them to Hogwarts. Remus, Peter, Sirius, and Frank piled into one, while Mundy grabbed Arabella out of the crowd of bustling students and sat with her and two sixth year Hufflepuffs. James was no where to be found, probably making sure the first-years got to the boats all right. After all, Hagrid couldn't do it by himself.

The carriage ride was fairly uneventful, if you don't count Sirius' "accidental" setting off of a Filibuster Firework, which in turn spooked their horse and made it run willy-nilly in a full gallop until Remus placed a Calming Charm on it.

"Seriously, Sirius, you're going to be the death of me," moaned Peter, clutching his chest. Soon after, the carriages pulled into the driveway in front of the entranceway of Hogwarts. They all caught up with Mundy and Arabella and proceeded to enter the school.

"Oi! There's James!" shouted Remus rather loudly as the gang pushed their way through the mass of people. He was in a lively, but one-sided, conversation with Lily when they finally reached him.

"So you're also the Qudditch captain. Fascinating," Lily was saying with not much conviction.

"Oh yes, the best Seeker the Gryffindors ever had," he said proudly, not noticing the fact that Lily didn't seem to care.

"Really. At least you haven't let that go to your head," she said seriously and walked off, not hearing the laughs from James' friends or seeing the sheepish grin and embarrassed red tinge on James' face.

"Good one, Prongsy," Sirius patted him on the shoulder. "Way to be the modest chap I always knew you could be."

"Shut up," James shook his head. "Most girls love it when I talk about my accomplishments."

"Well, I don't think Lily's most girls," Remus said. "Which, by the way, earns her a spot on the good list."

"Cheer up, mate, we have a feast to look forward to," Frank directed them to the Gryffindor table, which was all decked out in gold finery. After a few minutes of messing around, the first-years entered the Great Hall, their faces the masks of anxiety and nerves.

Professor McGonagall left her spot on the High Table and proceeded to set a three-legged stool in front of the new students. On it, she placed the well-worn piece of cloth known as the Sorting Hat. The first-years stared at in apprehensively before the rip along its side opened to sing the Sorting Song. As the ditty ended, the Hall filled with applause. When it had ceased, McGonagall retrieved a scroll from the sleeve of her emerald green robe and unrolled it.

"Now as I call your name, you will come up, sit on the stool, and place the Sorting Hat on your head so it can see where you'll be Sorted," she explained to the first-years, which made their anxious looks ease up a bit. "Abernathy, Hattie."

A timid looking blonde girl with rosy cheeks ran up to the stood and jammed the Hat on her head with shaking fingers. It took only a second for the Hat to Sort her.

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"I could have told her that," Sirius muttered, impatient. "I want food. Now!"

"Calm down," Remus looked at him, as "Boot, Laurence," became a Ravenclaw. "The Sorting's more important than food."

"Well, I'm hungry, and since I can't eat the Sorting, food's a little higher than it in the whole scheme of things."

"Will you two stop bickering like an old married couple?" James said, exasperated.

"Oh, fine. Sorry dear," Sirius smiled at Remus, who just looked at him funny.

"Hey, isn't she a little too tall to be a first-year?" Peter suddenly said, pointing into the group around the Sorting Hat, which was slowly diminishing. The girl in question stood almost a head over the other students and wore a blank look, as if she didn't care where she was.

"Yeah, wonder if she plays Quidditch," commented James. "We need a Keeper this year and her height would be a good advantage."

"That's assuming she's a Gryffindor and a Keeper," Frank pointed out, as "Macnair, Leon," became a Slytherin.

'True, true."

"Still though, she almost looks, well, old," observed Remus, who was peering at the girl with some interest. "Like maybe fifth year."

"Fifth year? Are you off your rocker?" Mundy snickered. "You can't be Sorted when you're fifteen! You're too old!"

"So? She still looks old," muttered Remus stubbornly. The Sorting when on, and soon, the girl was the only one left. Professor McGonagall read her name from the scroll.

"Yonkers, Thalia." McGonagall glanced at her over the rims of her square spectacles. Her eyes widened for a second in surprise, but then went back to normal. She still had a look on her face that clearly read, "This girl looks too old to be a first-year."

"Ha, even McGonagall thinks so," Remus said triumphantly, reading her look successfully.

The girl walked up to the Sorting Hat nonchalantly and flounced herself onto the stool. She placed the Hat on her head and waited. And waited. But the Sorting Hat wasn't saying anything. The other students could sometimes hear a faint "tsking" or a frustrated sigh, but that was all. As the minutes ticked passed, the Great Hall became deafly silent, as it seemed everyone was holding his or her breath. The Sorting Hat never took this long to Sort a student! Suddenly, its voice was heard across the Hall. It was quiet and laced with frustration and defeat.

"I don't know."