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[Chapter One: Wristbands]

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          It was a good day, it was her second day back at Hogwarts and Aspen was content—all of her summer work was ready to be handed in and she was even a few minutes early to breakfast. Naturally. It was also her last year at Hogwarts, normally a factor that'd lead to several mental breakdowns in a row. It was her N.E.W.T exam year after all, but the severity of the fact hadn't struck her yet.

     According to Professor McGonagall, she had been doing great in her studies to become an Auror; her dream job. If she passed her N.E.W.Ts, she would be able to start her Auror training once her schooling at Hogwarts ended. That is why Aspen was allowing herself to drift free before her classes started that morning. Drifting free—also known as snacking on all of her favorite treats for breakfast.

     "Eating ice cream and drinking coffee with six packets of sugar? What a healthy breakfast." Criticized Aspen's best friend Wendy, sarcasm lacing her voice. The two sat at the Gryffindor table in the great hall, munching on the various foods sitting in front of them that fine morning.

     Wendy was a sweet girl, Aspen had met her in her second year when the brown-haired, brown-eyed girl had entered her compartment. She always looked out for her friends, even Aspen who purposely withheld her feelings. She was also very . . . innocent. Everything was sugarcoated for her most of her life, she reminded Aspen of a puppy. Though if angered, Wendy Collins, the seventh year Gryffindor puppy, can and will bite.

     "It may not be healthy, but it sure does taste good." Aspen responded, taking a bite of her multi-colored ice cream, it was an assortment of sweet and salty flavors. Like peanuts and lollipops mixed together.

     "Don't you think it would be . . . better if you ate something more filling? Like eggs and toast or something?" Wendy asked, watching her best friend take a large gulp of her sugared-down coffee. Wendy was also a 'mum friend.'

     "'Or something' I'm good with this." Replied Aspen. Normally Wendy would be doing that kind of stuff with their other friend Evelyn, as Aspen always ate healthily— trying to stay in shape for the Auror program (if she were to ever be accepted). But as stated earlier, Aspen was taking a cheat day. The only cheat day she'd be taking that year.

     "Okay, but if you die of a heart attack at age seventeen, don't say I didn't warn you." Her overdramatic friend warned, filling her own plate with a biscuit and a few pieces of bacon.

      "Don't worry, if I die of a heart attack I won't be able to say anything." Aspen retorted, taking another bite of her ice cream. Her friend shook her head and began eating her own breakfast.

     It was a few hours before classes started, meaning the great hall barely had any people in it. Wendy and Aspen happened to be the only Gryffindors there—excluding the head girl and boy. Aspen had hoped to become the head girl that year, as it would've gone wonderfully on her resume, but the Headmaster seemed to have different plans as he paired up Lily Evans, the queen-bee of Hogwarts, and James Potter, one-fourth of the notorious troublemakers of the school. How did James Potter become head boy? No one could figure out how. Aspen assumed the title would go to Remus Lupin, a boy she may or may not have been crushing on since the third year.

      What everyone did know was that Lily Evans absolutely despised James Potter. Aspen was actually there when the red-haired girl heard the news of James Potter becoming head boy. It was on the train, the ginger-haired girl had turned into the human variation of an actual lion when she had heard. Cries were heard from inside the compartment across from Aspen's, where she and her friends Evelyn and Wendy were peacefully residing. Aspen reading, Wendy knitting, and Evelyn sleeping. Curses of different origins were screeched by the fiery girl, and not the magical kind.

     Honestly, Aspen didn't know that the small red-haired girl knew of such words. She always thought of Lily Evans being a bossy little girl who was too innocent for the torturous world. Turns out even the most innocent-looking had their own dark secrets.

     "Why do you look like you're sulking?" Asked a familiar voice. Both Wendy and Aspen turned to see their best friend, the girl who made their trio whole; Evelyn Reid.

     Evelyn Reid was the complete opposite of Aspen and Wendy, she strived for attention. Every day she wore extravagant head-turning clothing, wearing no filter as she would say whatever she pleased to whoever she wanted. Evelyn Reid was the entire build-up of confidence that Aspen wished to have.

     Currently, the brown-skinned girl was looking at Aspen, so she assumed the question was pointed towards her. But before she could respond, Evelyn quickly turned to Wendy and asked, "Why does she look like she's sulking?"

      "I don't think she looks like she's sulking." Wendy responded, scanning Aspen up and down. They both acted as if Aspen wasn't there. She then scrunched up her face and placed her hand on Aspen's cheek to get a closer look.

     Aspen's head jerked back as she tried to avoid the biscuit-crumb covered hand, sliding down the seat a bit as Wendy's arm only straightened out further. "I'm not sulking! Why would you think I'm sulking?"

     "Have you met you?" Evelyn sat on the left of Aspen, making her in the middle of her two friends, as usual. "You're always sulking about something."

     "I never sulk." Aspen denied, shaking her head. Her heart was pattering quickly. "What even is sulking? Never heard of it."

     "Sulking is to be silent, morose, and bad-tempered out of annoyance or disappointment." Wendy explained, her friends stared at her dumbfounded. Wendy was a smart girl, also very sarcastic. But she never understood when the sarcasm was directed towards herself. "Ohh, sarcasm," the girl realized, her eyes wide, "right."

     When Aspen finished her breakfast of ice cream and coffee, she quickly stood up to leave. She wanted to head to the library to get a few books before it was overcrowded by students. "Where are you going?" Evelyn asked, grabbing onto Aspen's wristbands.

     Aspen quickly hit her friend's hand off of her arm, she hadn't felt any pain but she didn't enjoy people grabbing onto her. "I'm just going to the library."

     "Oh, okay," Nodded her friend watching as the tall black-haired girl left the great hall. Evelyn only wanted to look out for her friend's safety. That's what Aspen loves for her. Despite Evelyns uncaring nature, she would do anything for her friends.

     Aspen walked down the silent corridor, every step she took leaving an echo that traveled throughout the empty halls. She played with the wristbands on her arms while she thought of what books she wanted to get. Does she want to get Auror-training books or does she want to get books subjected to her classes? Or even better, just a novel to read.

     Aspen kept walking peacefully down the silent halls until they became silent no more. Out of nowhere, she started to hear laughter growing from the end of the hall. People must be coming. Aspen's first instinct was to hide. When on an Auror mission, one of the most important steps was to stay hidden. Why was she doing that now, as a seventh year student? Who knows, though she still immediately took cover behind a large statue knight, silently pleading that the knight wasn't affected by magic. Once, she witnessed a boy get flipped onto his back after inspecting one of the knight statues.

     The laughing grew louder and more familiar as time passed. She could distinctly hear three different laughs— well, she believed she did. If she was right then that meant her self-Auror training was working.

     One laugh was high-pitched, it sounded a little forced but then again it sounded like the person was having a marvelous time. The next was more of a chuckle, as if coming from an older person—someone who was calm and quiet. The last laugh seemed more familiar to Aspen, like she had heard it before—many times. It had a loud 'bark' to it, but it sounded happy at the same time. Puppies are always happy. She thought.

     Aspen's instincts must've been right because once she was able to see the three figures, she immediately recognized them. The forced yet delighted laugh must've come from small Peter Pettigrew, one of the school's troublemakers. Aspen never talked to the boy but from what she'd heard of him he aounswd like a nice boy. Someone she wouldn't be afraid to say 'hi' too.

     Next, the sophisticated not crazy voice came from Remus Lupin. He was a tall boy, much taller than most children and staff from this school. He had scars littering his face and body, yet they seemed to fit him—as if he were born with them. In all honesty, Aspen didn't care where he got them. She had a major crush on him, though never the courage to actually speak to him. Or even send a friendly nod.

      Lastly, the third bark-happy laugh most definitely came from Sirius Black. Sirius Black came from a powerful pureblood family, though he was nothing like them. Aspen knew that for sure after she watched Black defend a muggleborn from a Slytherin in their sixth year. She knew for a fact that the Black's normally didn't do those types of heroic things towards those without the purest of blood. The family's treachery was famous in history books.

      Sirius Black was a good guy, but Aspen could never imagine herself associated with him. They were complete opposites. It would be like Evans and Potter magically coming together.

     Aspen stayed stiff behind the knight statue as the three boys passed her. Though they stopped when Remus hit Black on the arm, motioning for him and Pettigrew to stop as well. "What?" Black asked his friend, Remus was looking around as if someone was about to pop out and scare them. Aspen's eyes went wide and she silently crept more into her tiny dark corner. Remus looked around, causing his friends to grow more confused and Aspen began to grow more paranoid. He then suddenly stopped, looking directly in Aspen's direction.

     Aspen's eyes went even wider than before, but she still didn't move. The tall boy did though, he walked closer until he stopped only a few steps to the left from where Aspen stood with her breath hitched. He made a tut-tut noise as he wet his finger with his spit and wiped a vulgar doodle that a student left on a painting of a famous witch inventor from the sixteenth century. Although the inventor wasn't present at the moment, Remus still cleaned off the small, childish, penis-doodle.

     "How did you even see that?" Black asked his friend, bewildered. "Did you smell the ink or something?"

     Smell it? How would he be able to smell such a small amount of ink from how far he was? How could she get that talent? Aspen's thoughts went up, down, left, and right—she couldn't stop them. It was odd, even when the smallest of things happened, she always seemed to overthink it. Stuck in her thoughts, she began to sway over. Sway over so much that she knocked over the stone knight statue right onto the scar-littered boy.

    Remus Lupin fell over with a large crash, the stone statue holding him down on the corridor floor. His two friends hurriedly went to help him up without even glancing at what or who caused the knight to fall. They were loyal, but stupid.

     While the boys were distracted, Aspen quickly stepped away. Praying to the gods that she wasn't noticed, or heard—as Remus seemed to have that superpower.

     Aspen really had to learn that one, it would be great on missions.

     Once the boy was on his feet, he wiped off the dust that had soaked into his uniform from the old knight statue. Black was laughing and Pettigrew looked wildly around, most likely for whoever caused the mess. A smart one, indeed!

     "Moony I knew you were clumsy, but not this clumsy!" Black laughed, his friend glared at him.

     "I'm not clumsy! I didn't even touch the blasted thing, it just fell on me!"

     "That's a whole new level of clumsy, Moony! Congratulations." Pettigrew snarked to his friend, patting his back and making Black laugh even harder.

     What is with those two calling Remus 'Moony?' Does he have a fetish for the moon or something?

     "Wormtail, I swear—" he started, but got interrupted by a new wailing voice coming from the other end of the hall.

     "Ha! I knew you three wouldn't last a day before you started wreaking havoc again." Yelled caretaker Filch, as if he just discovered the three doing drugs or marking down battle strategies.

     "Ah, Filch, what a pleasure it is to see your wrinkly face again." Greeted Black, not caring that the caretaker thought he was up to trouble. Aspen could see clearly that he was lying. She didn't even have to see the lie, she already knew that he hated the caretaker. Plus, he had called him wrinkly. Aspen would never have the confidence to do something so drastic. The man scowled, he despised Sirius Black. He despised all of them, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, Peter Pettigrew, and James Potter—who was eating breakfast in the great hall with Lily Evans. Probably annoying her to death.

     "Likewise, Mr. Black," Replied Filch as he examined the broken knight. "You three, detention after classes for the destruction of Hogwarts property."

     "But Mr. Filch! We didn't do this—" Remus tried, but Filch made a hand motion ordering Remus to stop speaking, obediently—the prefect did.

    "No excuses, I saw you at the crime scene. Tonight you'll be cleaning Slughorn's cauldrons until your knuckles bleed." The caretaker cackled.

     Great, the one time the Marauders actually didn't do anything, they got into trouble because of a girl they've never even met. Or even seen. Then again, how many times have they gotten away after pranking some poor innocent soul? Or a Slytherin?

     Instead of doing the right thing, like coming out of the shadows and confessing it was indeed her who destroyed Hogwarts property to Filch, she silently crept away and continued silently and guiltily to the library. As Aspen walked she mentally noted; What to work on; overthinking small-unimportant situations . . . and clumsiness. Also, learn how to smell better.

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AUTHORS NOTE:

Do not worry, my friends, this is not a Lupin fic. You've come to the right place.

Posted: January 17, 2018

Word count: 2,506