beginning of a new year {certain gryffindors}

[mary elizabeth macdonald]

Mary plopped herself down on the couch nearest to the fireplace in the Gryffindor common room. It had been a very long and busy day. This was the first week of her seventh and final year at Hogwarts, and she was more than happy that the end of the week had arrived. There already had been assigned a large load of homework. What Magnus had told her about N.E.W.T's year not being one to fool around with was right, and Mary was already feeling that. So far McGonagall had been the toughest yet, though something told her that it was just beginning. She sighed at the thought of having more homework then she had already gotten through the week. Trying not to let it bother her too much Mary took off her robes and laid them neatly on the arm of the couch, leaving her in her skirt and shirt. She took her hair out of the neat bun to clip it up messily, her bangs falling down into her face.

Wanting to start on her homework Mary felt it was probably best that she relaxed for a little bit before she got ready for her rounds. She was a prefect this year, as well as Remus Lupin, and that came with more responsibility then she had before her fifth year. Obviously Professor Dumbledore though of her as a suitable prefect, Mary was highly reliable after all. She was also a stickler to the rules, though she would let other students slide every now and then. She was kicked back, eyes closed, just sitting there in the common room. It felt so nice to be able to just have some time to wind down for a change. Most would have said it was too early to be so worn out but there were sixth other years below that who didn't have half the load that the seventh years were stuck with. Once they got to that level then they would have room to talk.

As she sat there on the couch, a few fellow Gryffindors walked into the common room, all of them talking about their days and their busy work loads. Mary loved the free talk going on between the younger students, it was conversations that these young ones were having that made it sadder that this was her final year of school. Yet at the same time it was a relief, no more crowded common rooms. Figuring that she had spent enough time doing nothing Mary picked her book bag up off of the ground and took out her potions homework. Best start with what was almost finished and due first thing Monday. She dipped her quill in the ink and began scribbling away furiously about the ingredients in a polyjuice potion and it's function. There had to be two rolls so she made sure that she was very detailed about everything she said. The more she got written down the better. Mary had always been very precise when it came to homework and this year would be no different.

There was a point to be made after all. She was going to prove to all of the pure-bloods who thought less of someone because of their blood very wrong. It was something that Mary had been working at for years. Just as she was really getting into her essay a girl in her Herbology class asked her about the homework that they had been given. "Professor Sprout just said to state the magical properties of a mandrake in half a roll of parchment. It's simple, I finished during my break earlier." She told the girl who then left, allowing Mary to return to the assignment at hand. Professor Sprout's was probably one of the most important courses that Mary was taking this year and she found the subject quite simple actually. Thinking about Herbology, Helen came to mind. She had made her laugh much too hard during their lesson. Helen was her best friend but her complete opposite. While Mary was introverted, Helen was extroverted. Mary was for keeping the rules while Helen was all about breaking them. The two of them really were a pair. Just as Mary was getting back into her assignment laughter coming through into the common room made her look up again to see what was going on.

Tag:

[/color] Helen, Lily, James, Remus
Word Count:[/color] 786
Notes:[/color] Kay y'all got it up.
OutFit:[/color] Here
Song:[/color] Welcome to the Masquerade - Thousand Foot Krutch
Credit:[/color] This wonderful Thread template was made by no other than CannibalPudding© of Caution 2.0. Please don't steal or she will be very very sad =[. ♥[/font][/size][/center][/blockquote]

[helen amelie birch]

Helen grinned at a passing first year, her eyes glinting mischievously. He stopped to look at her, his jaw dropping as he saw what was in her hand. So many Galleons. "Right. Can you do me a favor?" Helen asked, the sparkle in her eye still clearly visible. The first year swallowed nervously and nodded. "Give these to a Mr. Severus Snape, would you? He's a Slytherin." Helen declared, taking out a small box of chocolates from her pockets that promptly rearranged itself into a larger size.

The first year, who finally understood what Helen was talking about, smirked and took the box of chocolates and the Galleons. "Thanks for the money!" he exclaimed, running away, presumably to give the chocolate box to Snape. Helen smiled to herself as she watched him gallop down the stairs. She was glad to be back at Hogwarts. It saddened her that it was her last year at the magical castle. She would certainly miss all of her friends, although she most definitely would have to keep in touch with most of them.

The one thing Helen would not miss is the excessive work and studying. Just this past week alone, Helen had to write five essays! Professor McGonagall was by far the worst. "I'm pretty sure she just likes to torture us!" Helen complained during Herbology class to her best friend, Mary. Not that Herbology was much better, really. Helen never understood all the plants and flowers, and the names were so confusing! Nimbulus Nimbletonia? How the hell was she supposed to remember (and not crack up when saying) such a wacky name like that?

Helen still had to finish her Potions essay on Polyjuice Potion and her Transfiguration essay on Animagi. Helen loved Transfiguration, and she was top of her class, right after (most surprisingly) James and Sirius. It would not take long for her to finish that, but Potions would take much longer. Perhaps she could ask Mary if she could borrow her essay. Scoffing, Helen thought, Right, as if. Mary would never break the rules! It was true. Mary was most definitely a stickler for the rules, whereas Helen and rules just did not mix. Granted, she wasn't as much of a troublemaker as, say, James, but she did have her moments.

Helen wandered the corridors until she came to the Gryffindor common room. She bubbly told the Fat Lady the password, who looked at her suspiciously before Helen raised her Gryffindor Quidditch Captain pin, and the big-bellied woman in the portrait reluctantly let her in. Helen skipped inside, quickly locating her best friend, who was unusually surrounded by two of the four Marauders - James, who she got on very well with, and Remus, whom Helen had an enormous, unnatural crush on.

Helen walked over to them, grinning widely as she looked at her classmates. "Hi guys. Any of you finish the Potions essay yet?" she inquired, looking from one person to the other. God, she was going to miss them. With one last longing look at Remus, she thought, All of them.

- tag : Mary Macdonald, James Potter, Remus Lupin, Lily Evans
- notes : Methinks Helen is a bit obsessive. I love her anyway. At least she keeps her obsession to herself. And yes, this is going to be fun!
- words : 509...sorry it's so short, haha.
- music : Not Alone by Darren Criss
- outfit : This!
- credit : template brought to you by THE ACTRESS !. lyrics from IN THE MOURNING by PARAMORE !

[/size]

[mary elizabeth macdonald]

At first it was just some more younger Gryffindors that came through the portrait, so Mary just returned to her potions essay once more. But as the portrait opened once more she saw that it was James. One of the four Marauders that loved pranking all around the school. They were funny enough and Mary usually found herself very entertained by all four of them. Though, when someone was hurt or mercilessly embarrassed she didn't like them too much. Still, she had no person problem with James in general. He was always nice enough to her, and he seemed to get on great with Helen. Not that Helen had much trouble getting on with many others. She certainly wasn't shy about much. As Mary was trying to finish her Potions essay James asked her if she had seen Remus, "No, not yet." she told him. The truth was that she hadn't see him since earlier that day in DADA but that was it. It would probably be a good idea if he was found soon, they did have rounds after all.

Just as Mary thought that Remus came in, though she really didn't pay much attention to what he was saying to James, too interested in her homework. Actually, she didn't even worry what was going on when she heard the splash of water. Though when Remus said "Hey there Mary." She looked up from her parchment momentarily and said "Hey Remus." Before returning to her homework. Normally she would have been a little irritated for being interrupted while doing homework but she had the next few days to finish it all. She would even spend all night and work on it if it came down to it. With that knowledge Mary was not going to stress it at all.

Mary began to wonder where her best friend was, she was getting rather suspicious just as she usually did when Helen wasn't around. Hoping that Helen would show up soon Mary returned once more to her potions essay and finished up the last bit before putting her quill down on the table and looking over her work once more. Just as she put it away Helen walked in and over to the group that was starting to form. "Hi guys. Any of you finish the Potions essay yet?" she had asked. Mary nodded "I just finished right before you walked in," she started, glancing down once more at her essay which was now laying in her lap "Have you finished yours?" Mary asked her best friend. If Helen did then great! If not, Mary would be willing to allow her to copy hers, just this one time couldn't hurt. It wasn't an every day thing, thankfully, or else Mary would never have allowed Helen to copy her work again. She was all for reaching your full potential and doing your own work, just as she was raised to be. Her mother would never approve of Mary permitting a friend to copy her work, even if that friend was Helen.

Mary knew she was going to miss Helen after this year but she was sure they were going to stay friends. Or, she had hoped that they would. They had been best friends the entire time at Hogwarts, it would be sad to lose her as one. To just fall out without notice. Such a sad, sad thought. Uncomfortable Mary crossed her legs, wanting desperately to go up to the girls dorm and change out of the school's uniform. Thinking about how very uncomfortable they were Mary smiled at Lily when she came in but didn't really say anything to her. She wasn't little miss social but Lily was always nice enough, another who she had known since her first year at Hogwarts and a muggle-born just like her. Looking around at the very familiar faces in the common room, Mary knew that she was going to miss all of them.

Tag:

[/color] Helen, Lily, James, Remus
Word Count:[/color] 729
Notes:[/color] It really is going to be fun! but Blah that was horrible. Sorry guys.
OutFit:[/color] Here
Song:[/color] Welcome to the Masquerade - Thousand Foot Krutch
Credit:[/color] This wonderful Thread template was made by no other than CannibalPudding© of Caution 2.0. Please don't steal or she will be very very sad =[. ♥[/font][/size][/center][/blockquote]

[helen amelie birch]

Helen looked over at Mary, pouting slightly. "No, I haven't finished yet. But I don't want to copy yours. It's NEWT year, for Merlin's sake! I think I might actually study today. How do you do it, Mary?" Helen said, wondering how Mary didn't complain about their exhaust of work. There was just so much! How on earth did she finish it all? Well, actually, Helen knew how. Mary was right up there with Lily in terms of studying habits, and while Helen found it quite amusing, she found it frustrating, as well. Why couldn't she have inherited a gene like that? This was the wizarding world! Wasn't there a potion that could somehow make you like studying?

Grumbling to herself, Helen watched Lily walk in, with a bundle of books, as usual. Helen wasn't the closest of friends with Lily; in fact, she found her super annoying most of the time, but Helen put up with her for James's sake. They weren't exactly what you would call friends, but they weren't enemies, either. And, Helen always thought she was perfect for James. In fact, she realized that in first year, even before either of them realized it. Perhaps that was why she was so adamant about getting them together.

"I'm fine, James. Just managed to get a first year to help me prank Severus." Helen said, grinning. She, unlike pretty much all of the other Gryffindor seventh years, had no problem with Snape. She actually kind of admired him. Not that she would ever admit that. Helen and Snape were friends of sorts; she was closer to him than she was to Lily, which was strange. But it was always fun to prank him. "And you...?" Helen inquired, rolling her eyes as she saw James turning his attention fully towards Lily. Typical James behavior. If Helen were Lily, she would have accepted James the first time he asked her out. But obviously, Helen was not Lily, and that's why the two of them only had a platonic relationship. And Helen was glad, because she would hate dumping James's sorry ass. He was one of her closest friends, after all.

Helen watched Remus answer his friend, and partly her. God, why did he look so cute while speaking? Why was Helen attracted to him in the first place? He looked so sickly and strange most of the time. Was Helen attracted to illness? She found herself wondering if Remus's body was as pale as his face...no. Must not think about that. Bad. Bad. Bad. Smirking slightly due to the mental image, she knew what James did want to ask his friend. James wasn't like Helen in that aspect; he wouldn't ever study, ever. And Helen also knew the only reason James didn't take Mary's paper was because he didn't want to take it unless they were close friends.

She spent too much time around that boy.

Helen looked over at Lily, who seemed to be rubbing her foot and mumbling. Helen frowned. While she wasn't exactly friends with Lily, she didn't want her to be in pain or anything. Unless it was part of a prank. But Helen was pretty sure that wasn't the case. "Hey, Lily, are you okay?" Helen called, trying to smile helpfully. Hopefully, it didn't look like too much of a grimace.

Looking closer, Helen saw that there was a huge bump on Lily's foot. "Oh my God, Lily, that is not okay! Mary, c'mere, and do something about that!" Helen declared worriedly. Mary's healing abilities were much better than her own, so she figured that unless Lily wanted an even bigger bump, Mary should be the one taking care of her. Looking over at Lily cautiously, Helen stepped over to her. Sighing, Helen thought, I should stop worrying so much. Seriously. It gives you wrinkles, and I do not want to age prematurely. Ew, what if I look like some grandma at the age of twenty? No more worrying.

- tag : James, Lily, Mary, Remus
- notes : Blah. I'll hopefully be able to post some time in the next week. But don't be expecting daily posts from me from now on, haha.
- words : 634
- music : It's Raining Men by Weather Girls
- outfit : This!
- credit : template brought to you by THE ACTRESS !. lyrics from IN THE MOURNING by PARAMORE !

[/size]

[mary elizabeth macdonald]

It really shouldn't come as surprise, Mary having finished her potions essay so early. It just meant one less thing that Mary would have to stress about over the weekend. Keeping on top of her homework was something that Mary had been doing since her first year at Hogwarts, yet there was always that tone of surprise when people heard that she had finished an assignment. It had actually gotten pretty annoying over the last seven years. Sometimes it seemed that they were shocked that she was as studious as she was. It was getting old real quick, but this year was going to be a little different, Mary promised herself that.

Just when Mary was beginning to think that the incredulous reactions were out grown James proved her wrong when he asked her "You've finished yours already?" making her roll her eyes and desperately say 'So what?' but she didn't, instead she nodded and spoke after James continued on to ask her "Wasn't that just given yesterday or earlier today?" "Slughorn gave it to us yesterday, I wanted to get it out of the way." she said, with a simple shrug of her shoulders. True, it had just been assigned the previous day but that didn't mean it should have just been left until the night before it needed to be turned in. Mary wasn't the sort of student who would be that irresponsible with her homework, and even if she was her parents would have got her out of the habit after seeing the poor grades, that in reality did not exist with her.

Mary was not the top of her class like Lily was, no she was not nearly as talented as her fellow Gryffindor -especially in potions- but she was definitely one of the top marks of her year. A step above Helen and the others, it only got to be so because Mary was extra obsessed over studying and homework. She had come to school to learn and learning she was definitely going to do. "No, I haven't finished yet. But I don't want to copy yours. It's NEWT year, for Merlin's sake! I think I might actually study today. How do you do it, Mary?" Mary Sympathized for her friend on that aspect, Slughorn's essay hadn't been that difficult so she knew that Helen wouldn't have a problem doing it on her own. Still, she had to laugh when she answered her best friend "It's called determination, Helen. I put my mind to my homework and I get it done." she said, determination...more like obsession.

Once Helen started talking to James and Remus for a brief moment Mary took that time to put her potions essay away, as well as her potions book. Then she let her hair back down as it was starting to feel rather annoying keeping it up now, it had been in a bun all day and Mary just wanted to let it loose. Mary did like to wear her hair down more than in the usual bun but then it would be too much of a risk to keep down during the day. It just got in the way during classes a lot of the time, and Mary liked when she didn't have to fidget with her hair every five seconds. Still, just relaxing in the common room was the perfect excuse for her to let it go just for a little bit. Sitting there, absentmindedly running her fingers through her hair, Mary partially paid attention to the various conversations that her friends were having.

Helen started to talk to Lily about something or other before she spoke to Mary once more. This time it sounded like something had happened to Lily. Curious Mary wandered over to where the two were, trying to see what Helen wanted taken care of. Then she saw that bump on Lily's foot, and it didn't look good. "Ouch. What happened to your foot?" she asked the redhead, wincing slightly at the sight of it. She would have suggested that Lily went to see Madam Pomfrey in the Hospital Wing if she hadn't had the perfect thing in her bag. "I've got something for that," she told Lily and Helen going for her bag "Just..give me a...second," she said digging through her bag before she found the vial that she was looking for. In it was a simple cure for bumps and bruises that Mary had whipped up over the summer. Mary walked back to where her best friend and Lily were and gave Lily the vial "Here," she said handing it over "Just rub a little bit on your bump every few hours and it will be fine this time tomorrow." sure it probably would have been better to have just used something approved for such things but Mary had tested her new creation out on herself many times until she got something that wouldn't leave a rash or weird looking colors. It was legit.

Tag:

[/color] Helen, Lily, James, Remus
Word Count:[/color] 891
Notes:[/color] Kay y'all got it up.
OutFit:[/color] Here
Song:[/color] Welcome to the Masquerade - Thousand Foot Krutch
Credit:[/color] This wonderful Thread template was made by no other than CannibalPudding© of Caution 2.0. Please don't steal or she will be very very sad =[. ♥[/font][/size][/center][/blockquote]

[helen amelie birch]

Smiling at her friend, Helen looked over at Mary, her eyes shining. How (or why) did her best friend do this? She simply gave Helen the perfect opportunity to taunt her! Granted, Helen was always playful and nice about it. She would never fully insult her best friend. She wasn't Severus, after all! Trying hard not to collapse into a fit of uncharacteristic, girly giggles after trying to imagine herself as the greasy-haired Slytherin, Helen replied, "You put your mind to your homework, eh? Let me guess, and then the homework reads the mind you gave it and does your homework for you!" That sounded even more retarded out loud. Grinning, she continued, "Where can I get one of those homework-mind-reading things? Do they sell them at Hogsmeade? ...I'm such an idiot. I still don't understand how you do it so quickly, though. Must've taken you years to learn how." Which was true. Mary was always so dedicated, so studious. The very opposite of Helen. Well, Helly-poo was a dedicated person, but perhaps not towards her studies. She had enough money, anyway.

If Helen really put all her efforts toward it, she could easily surpass Lily in the realm of grades. Helen's father was a Ravenclaw, after all. She spent so much of her time reading when she was younger. Well, being read to, really. Helen had good genes in all aspects, but she was a bit of a lazy bum. Granted, if it was up to her, she would be working right now, as a professional Quidditch player, or perhaps an Auror. The one thing Helen refused to do was stay home and become a housewife. She simply was not built for that - for cooking and cleaning and watching her husband come home with a pint of firewhiskey, expecting her to have a seven course meal ready for him. No. Helen was not really a domestic person. If she chose to not work, she would do it to spend her younger years free of any commitment - NOT to commit fully to her family! If she did choose to stay home all day, though, it would be possible. Helen's family was extremely rich, their only rivalry the Slytherin pure-bloods. It was a bit sad how easy Helen had it.

James's chuckle brought Helen out of her daydream, and she swerved somewhat dangerously to look at him. James was like a brother to her. They were extremely close, almost Marauder close. Most girls were jealous of her; when asked if they were dating, Helen would start laughing hysterically...were there really girls fantasizing over Prongsie? The very notion was hilarious to Helen. And, so were pranks. She listened to her friend talk, and started laughing when he finished his comment. Only James would want detention! "Dangerous? Huh! Well, I suppose we could do something about that, Helen said, winking. They were so used to poking fun at each other that what would be considered a flirt was normal to Helen and James, hence the exclamations about the nature of their relationship. "How did I do it? Well, I got a chocolate box. You know, one of those ones that changes sizes when you poke at it with your wand. And I filled it with charmed chocolates; they're supposed to turn you into a duck temporarily when you eat them. Then, I gave the box to this first year. Bribed him, obviously. Told him to give it our lovely Severus. Expect to be yelled at tomorrow, Jamesie. For some reason, he never expects it's me." Helen exclaimed, throwing James her best lopsided grin: a grin that most boys would kill for. Thankfully, James was not one of those boys.

Helen then turned to Lily, smiling at her. She remembered this one spell Madam Pomfrey taught her - episkey, or something? Oh, well. It probably wouldn't work anyway, and Mary's potions always did. Helen couldn't believe that Lily's books fell on her foot! Well, that was Lily for you. While Helen wasn't quite fond of the girl, they got along well most of the time, and Lily was very nice. Well, when she wasn't angry, and Lily didn't have much cause to be angry at Helen for. While they didn't agree with most things, the two girls would normally just keep an even distance. She didn't necessarily dislike her, but she didn't like her, either. Really, they were on neutral territory, and that was fine with Helen. Many things were, really. Watching James flirt openly with Lily, Helen plopped down on one of the armchairs by the fire and watched the blue, sparkling embers. It really was pretty.

- tag : Remus, James, Lily, and Mary
- notes : This was fun to write. I kind of adore Helen. Is that normal?
- words : 773
- music : Back to Hogwarts from A Very Potter Musical
- outfit : This!
- credit : template brought to you by THE ACTRESS !. lyrics from IN THE MOURNING by PARAMORE !

[/size]

[mary elizabeth macdonald]

Studying had always been Mary’s strong point, the hat had its doubts about placing her in Ravenclaw where her brother had once been sorted, but thought she would do best in Gryffindor. In the last seven years now, they had become her family away from home and she would miss them dearly once this year was over. Despite her best friend’s taunting about her study habits Mary knew that Helen never really meant it nor was she overly rude about it either, it was all simply for fun. They had always been like that since their first year at school when Mary was –possibly- even stricter about staying on top of her grades than she had become. Yes, Mary was strict about school but it had grown tiresome and she let up a little bit, not that that said much. She was still anal about homework and exams, a true fault of her own. Still, her best friend made a rather bad joke out of it and Mary had to laugh; she knew Helen could do so much better than that “Yes Helen, you are a total idiot.” She responded thinking. Not many knew how Mary studied the way she did, though the only one above her was Lily Evans. Not by much though, it was almost like an unspoken competition between the two. “Easy, my mum would have kittens if I did poorly in any class. I’d never hear the end of it, which is not something I want to hear during break.” Her mother was definitely more of a pusher on grades where as her father would just be disappointed, her dear old mum was probably the main reason that Mary acted the way she had for years.

Mary knew that Helen was extremely bright; you couldn’t be stupid and pull of the pranks that she did. She just always had a different approach to studying and homework. It was not one that Mary always approved of but she wasn’t going to try and change someone unless they were harming their selves. The only thing she strived to change was opinions about pure-bloods and muggle-borns. She was not at all interested in the conversation going on between Helen, James and partially Remus as it was about that Snape boy. He was in her year but in Slytherin and was never particularly kind to her over the last seven years together. Just the other day he had made a comment about “mud-bloods” that she didn’t care to repeat, it was half her mind to hex him right there but she wouldn’t have unless provoked, as she was a prefect after all. The boy was just foul, purely foul. Mary had helped Lily out avoiding him before too, letting her know that he was waiting out in the hall for her. She could spot his greasy hair and abnormally large nose from a mile away. Now, Mary wasn’t one to talk another student down either but that boy really irked her at times, and some days he was just creepy. He was deeply into the dark arts and somewhat of a potions prodigy. The fact that he was particularly talented in potions had always impressed her but the idea of anyone dabbling in the dark arts was very frightening. They weren’t called ‘Dark Arts’ for nothing.

There were many spells that could be used to fix any ailments, but spells could always go wrong if not executed properly. And in the common room where there was so much already going on, Mary knew that she would not be able to concentrate clearly and she definitely did not want to put Lily in the hospital wing. So she was going to just settle on her little concoction that she had fun whipping up. Experimenting Mary loved to do, it gave her a helping hand when it came to potions –though N.E.W.T level was considerable tougher- and helped her realize that she wanted to work at St. Mungo’s after school was done for her, at least that was what her classes were centered around doing. Lily had tried to blow it off as nothing and even “nothing” could eventually become something worse and Mary didn’t want to see that happen, she didn’t speak to Lily often but definitely wanted nothing bad to the girl. She was relatively pleased when Lily did what she was supposed to and put it on the bump “Keep it, just in case it doesn’t go down right away. Oh, and it might sting in a little bit.” She said as an after thought, wanting to make sure the bruising stopped as well.

Tag:

[/color] Helen, Lily, James, Remus
Word Count:[/color] 778
Notes:[/color] Kay y'all got it up.
OutFit:[/color] Here
Song:[/color] Welcome to the Masquerade - Thousand Foot Krutch
Credit:[/color] This wonderful Thread template was made by no other than CannibalPudding© of Caution 2.0. Please don't steal or she will be very very sad =[. ♥[/font][/size][/center][/blockquote]

[marlene juliana mckinnon]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, background-image:url(http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r71/maggiesrpstuff/BACKGROUNDS/fk5qwnjpg.png); width: 457px; padding-top: 30; padding-bottom: 30; -moz-border-radius: 35 35 35 35; -webkit-border-radius: 35 35 35 35;] hi » FIRE IT UP. Friday was always a very good day! In Marlene’s book it was probably the most welcomed day of the week, or it was amongst the students of Hogwarts. It meant that they would be able to kick back and relax for a few days after a hard week of unending lessons and school work. After six years of the same routine, Marlie found herself welcoming her final year at Hogwarts; she was ready for what was outside the walls of the school. As excited to complete her education as she was, Marlene accepted that she would have to actually pass her classes in order to actually make something of herself once she was finished at Hogwarts. Part of passing was doing her homework, defense against the dark arts and potions calling her name. Oh well, she would just have to finish them over the weekend, she was much too tired and excited for the weekend to think about trivial things, such as homework, at the moment. She would rather be having enjoying her first Friday back at Hogwarts. Sitting on the four-poster bed in the seventh year girls’ dormitory Marlene realized that part of enjoying her Friday did not include hiding out in the empty dormitory. Rearranging her potions and defense against the dark arts books, neatly, on her bed Marlie grabbed her wand up off of her bed and left the dormitory. The only reason she had gone up there was because for her the last period of the day had been free. In her opinion she had gotten lucky that way, for she would have more time to do whatever she wanted before supper that evening. Walking down the stairs that lead to the girls’ dormitories, Marlene saw some of her fellow seventh years all sitting together, talking amongst themselves. For the last six years she had seen all of these other Gryffindors and was relatively close to all of them. No, they weren’t her best friends but they were all good enough. From what she saw there was James Potter and Remus Lupin, both of whom were notorious for pranking many of the Hogwarts body but it was usually harmless fun. Then there were three girls: Lily Evans, Gryffindor’s star pupil and top of their year. Mary Macdonald, a very shy but brilliant Gryffindor, not too far behind Lily when it came to grades. Both Lily and Mary were muggle-borns who proved every purist pure-blood wrong. And then there was Helen Birch, a prankster in her own way, who surprisingly was best friends with Mary. As different as they were, they had one thing in common and that was their idea on accepting people no matter what their blood, there was no superior race. That was an idea that Marlene had as well, she had been around muggle-borns enough to know that they were just as much as a witch or wizard as any pure-blood. Marlene had to believe that, in a way, because she was a half-blood herself. Sure, there was the rare moment that being raised with magic got to her head, but it didn’t last long. Trying to catch what the others were talking about Marlene walked closer and stood close to where the other three girls were talking. It seemed that Lily had bruised her foot somehow and Mary had whipped up a potion to take care of any swelling or further bruising. Never missed a beat, that girl. Just the previous afternoon she had impressed Marlene by answering many of the questions that Slughorn had thrown at the class before anyone else had a chance. Curious about what was going on, Marlie said “You could have done ‘episky’ and been done with it.” Suddenly, not understanding why the brown haired witch had chosen to use a potion Marlene had never seen before, and consequentially did not trust to work properly. She knew better than to doubt Mary’s work but when people experimented with something as dangerous as potions…well it was only natural to doubt it. “Hi Lily, Helen, Remus, James.” She greeted each of them, nodding to each one as she listed of their names. 693 words, outfit is here, banner by MEL BELL?! on caution 2.0

[/td][/tr][/table]

THIS TEMPLATE WAS MADE BY WILMETTA OF CAUTION.

[/center]