Prelude to Moondance

    The next morning dawned foggy with a blood red sun creeping over the horizon. Sariyah was quite awake, watching the sun rise slowly, spilling its pools of light all around the grounds of Hogwarts. She was accustomed to awaking early like this, because she had always had more than a few nights a week when she couldn't sleep at all, and last night was just such a night.

    She left the dormitory early, slowly treading down the common room stairs, where no one was inhabiting her favorite chair by the fire; the fire was smoldering gently in the fireplace. She tucked herself into the chair and glanced at the large clock in the common room; it read 5:30 AM. She hadn't been able to sleep since 1 AM, so she had kept herself busy doing other, quiet things so as not to wake anyone in her dorm room up. A few times she had heard their absent minded, blonde-haired fellow Gryffindor Lethe Robinson snort, and nearly awaken, but she had fallen right back asleep.

    Sariyah was now sitting comfortably in the large red chair, the fireplace letting off a gentle glow and great warmth, and soon found herself drifting off to sleep, fully clothed in what she planned on wearing that day for her first class at 8:00, Advanced Potions.

    It seemed like she had only shut her eyes for a mere ten minutes when a hand shook her shoulders softly.

    "Hey sleepyhead," said a voice. Sariyah opened her eyes (now bloodshot) and instead of looking at the person who had woken her up, she looked at the clock, which read 7:45. She turned her attention to the red haired girl now grinning at her, green eyes shining in the flames of the fire, which was now burning quite brightly.

    "Hi Lil," Sariyah mumbled through a yawn. "Thanks for waking me up."

    "You've missed breakfast already, just don't miss your first class," Lily chided.

    "Stop being such a mom," joked Sariyah. "James doesn't call you Mother Lily for no reason."

    "Hardee har har, Sariyah," Lily laughed. "Next time you won't be so lucky."

    Sariyah picked herself up and headed out of the common room with Lily towards their first class. They trudged down to the bottom of the large castle to a dark dungeon where the class was held.

    "Late, Evans? Khan?" asked the tall, black-haired witch who taught the class. "What would you like...to clean up afterwards or lose points for the house?" She flipped her black shiny hair and continued writing on the board.

    "Well?" the witch asked again, flipping her hair once more when turning back around to stare at them with her piercing blue eyes.

    "We'll stay after, Professor," muttered Sariyah. Lucius Malfoy and Severus Snape, sitting a few rows back, snickered. Sariyah turned around and glared at them and before turning back she raised one finger and pointed at Malfoy. Malfoy's look changed immediately from gloating to a look that was unmistakably like that of a frightened mouse.

    The class passed quite uneventfully after that, and the tall, black-haired witch instructed Lily and Sariyah that they were to wipe off the blackboard and sweep the floor of the dungeon, and they did so obediently.

    They had to then hurry to their next class, the very popular Advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was taught by their favorite professor (and the popular favorite among the female students), Professor Evander. He wasn’t an excellent looking man, but he was quite handsome and had a large, fluffy brown mustache and deep blue eyes. Sariyah and Lily had developed a pattern to where they would alternate taking notes each day, because one tended to get ‘lost in the lecture’ as he spoke and also tended not to take notes, completely enamored by their professor.

    James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter stumbled into class late, nearly breaking the dungeon door as they entered. Sirius shot a huge smile at Sariyah when she looked over at what the enormous clamor was being caused by They were al looking quite fiendish, and it was still very early in the day. Sirius and Remus sat down directly behind her in the back of the room, while Peter and James had to split up due to the unavailability of seats.

    "Okay, men...for coming in late, you're going to have to answer some questions," smiled Professor Evander at the four rascals who were finally situated in the back of the room.

    "Mr. Black, if you would kindly tell me the counterspell to the Tripudio curse?" asked the Professor.

    "The dancing curse is counteracted by Subsisto Incatatem," answered Sirius, a cocky smile lighting up his face.

    "Very good," nodded the professor. "Mr. Potter, if you were being chased by a giant, what spell would you use to stop it without hitting it below the neck?"

    "I would used the Suffoco hex...it would strangle him, and it wouldn't be below his neck," James answered without hesitation.

    "Excellent Potter, excellent...now Mr. Lupin, I think you've realized that the questions have been becoming harder as I progress?" asked the professor.

    Remus nodded, a calm smile warming his features.

    "Tell me then, Mr. Lupin, if you were bitten by a werewolf, how long would you have to wait for the first symptoms to appear and what would they be?" asked Professor Evander.

    Remus paled slightly, and James and Sirius looked at each other.

    "The first symptoms would be a horrible itching feeling directly under your skin, followed by mild seizures, then, finally, a full transformation," Remus answered, his voice quivering slightly. "You would have only about two hours to wait for the first symptoms, as it is a direct onset bite," he answered, his voice becoming stronger as he progressed.

    "Fantastic, Remus. We haven't even done werewolves yet, you seem to be about 5 weeks ahead in your reading, as I would have expected from the Head boy," said the professor quite proudly. "Ten points to Gryffindor." Remus smiled slightly and looked at James and Sirius, who were grinning quite knowingly now, and patting Remus on the back.

    "Now Mr. Pettigrew, it's your turn," said Professor Evander, turning to Peter.

    Peter seemed to cower in terror.

     "Honestly, Mr. Pettigrew, it's not going to be as bad as being attacked by a troll," joked the Professor.

    Peter cowered more.

    "Okay Mr. Pettigrew, this you should know if you had done the summer assignment I gave: if you were attacked by a dementor, what spell would you use to drive them back?" he asked.

    Peter's eyes widened and he searched through his brain for the answer. "It starts with a P...I don't know...um...a Pateroni?" he asked.

    "Close," he said. "Patronus, actually. And that's what we'll be learning about today, Patronuses."    

    The professor turned and went to the board and the lecture began, but there was only about 15 minutes left, so not much was covered.

    Sariyah and Lily stayed afterwards to speak with the Professor about additional reading that they could do about Patronuses.

    James, Remus, Sirius and Peter were waiting outside the door in a huddle, talking in whispers. Sariyah and Lily came out of the room and knew that they had been up to something.

    "What are you guys whispering about?" asked Sariyah suspiciously.

    "You'll see," grinned James.

    "I don't like the ‘you'll see’, James," said Lily. James only smiled back.

    They began walking to the hall for lunch, brushing by people they hadn't seen for a few months. By coincidence, James ran into the entire Gryffindor quidditch team, who sucked him into their group like a large vacuum cleaner and began talking to him about practices and such.

    “So,” asked Sirius, as the rest of the group waited for James to finish. “Why did you stay behind in Evander’s?”

    “We just had to ask him about some extra reading for the N.E.W.T.’s...he’s offered to hold a study session for it after classes on Wednesdays,” answered Lily.

    “I have a feeling that that’s not the only reason you two stayed behind,” asserted Sirius, smiling wickedly to Sariyah. “He’s cute, isn’t he?”

    “Shut up Sirius,” Sariyah responded, turning slightly red. “He’s an excellent professor.”

    “And he’s cute,” laughed Sirius. Sariyah pushed him a little harder than she had meant to and he ran straight into the Hufflepuff Quidditch captain, Lachlan Avery, and both of them landed in a heap on the floor.

    “Careful, Black,” Lachlan said in his gruff voice, pushing Sirius off of his robes. “These are new.” He stood up and ran his fingers through his light brown curls that had been covering his turquoise eyes, and stared evenly at Sirius.

    Sirius raised his hands in his defense and apologized.

    “It’s okay, don’t worry about it,” Lachlan answered, clapping Sirius on the shoulder. He looked at Sariyah, then smiled. “Hi Sariyah.”

    “Hi Lachlan,” she smiled back, turning a light pink color again. She felt a slight clench in her stomach, and watched him walk away.

    Sirius watched him too, his eyes narrowed. “He’s too cocky,” he sneered. “And what kind of a name is Lachlan?”

    “It’s a nice name,” Sariyah smiled at Sirius. “And he’s not cocky, you’re cocky.”

    “What? I’m-? Me? Cocky? Are you kidding me?” asked Sirius, acting flustered. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Plus me and Pettigrew could beat that kid up.”

    Sariyah raised an eyebrow at her friend.

    “Well maybe not,” argued Sirius. “It’s just...well...oh for crying out loud, Lachlan Avery?”

    “Avery?” asked James, after the vulture-like Gryffindor team had let go of their Seeker. “What about Avery? He’s the new captain for Hufflepuff isn’t he...we’ll beat them,” muttered James.

    “Don’t worry about Avery, let’s just go and eat,” said Lily, ending the conversation. They trudged down the rest of the way to the hall, ate lunch, and split up again. Lily, Peter, and Sirius had Care of Magical Creatures, and Sariyah, Remus, and Frank Longbottom (who they had met up with at lunch) had Herbology. The long day had yet to draw to a close.