"Look, the brochure says they'll pay for anything we need!"

"So, of course, we'll need a years worth of fire whisky, right?"

"Obviously!"

The four mischievous teenagers had finally made it onto their plane and had just left the ground. It had taken them quite a few hours to make it through security, thanks to James and Sirius trying to slide through the Airport Baggage Scanners, but they had - miraculously - made it onto the airplane. Remus, James, Sirius, and Lily were sitting in a four-seat row at the back of the plane, careful not to draw attention to themselves. Lily had her head rested on the window of the plane, and a sleep mask was rested over her eyes as she tried to sleep. Remus was reading a book about muggles and their everyday objects, while Sirius and James tried to find loopholes in the brochure for their punishment.

"It says that at Cambridge High, we have to do something called P.E.?" James mentioned, scratching his head in slight confusion with the meaning of the class.

"It stands for Physical Education, it says so right here." Sirius answered as he pointed out the definition in small parentheses near the statement. "What's the bloody difference?" As James shrugged his shoulders, Lily lifted her sleep mask to glare at the two boys.

"I have fourteen hours to sleep and not worry about you idiots, so do shut up." She snapped, stifling a yawn before lowering the mask over her eyes.

Sirius rolled his eyes at Lily, but him and James lowered their voices as they continued to read the pamphlet aloud.

"So, do you think we'll meet anybody else at this school who is worthy of our friendship?" James whispered to Sirius as the lights of the plane slowly dimmed to allow the passengers to sleep.

"Maybe," Sirius replied with a shrug, flipping the pages in the booklet. "No one could replace Peter, though." James nodded his head thoughtfully as their minds wandered back to saying their final goodbye to their friend, Peter Pettigrew.

┈┈┈┈┈◦•✩•◦┈┈┈┈┈

"What do you mean you're leaving?" Peter had exclaimed, his eyes wide with worry as they delivered the news to him in the Hospital Wing.

"We have to attend some muggle school in America just because we 'destroyed one-thousand year old property.'" Sirius replied, holding up his hands and bending them to create air quotes. Even though the jokester was trying to lighten the mood, Remus elbowed him in the ribs to remind him that now was not the time for humor. Sirius shot a pained look at Remus as he rubbed his ribcage, but he seized his jokes once he noticed Peter's distress.

"Look, Wormtail, I'm sure we'll be back for seventh year!" James declared as he rested his hand onto Peter's shoulder. Unfortunately, he had forgotten that Peter was injured head to toe, and the poor boy winced in agony as his shoulder filled with pain.

"Oops. Sorry?" James shrugged as he lifted his hand off of Peter's shoulder immediately after he displayed his pain.

"What do you mean by 'you're sure'?" Peter asked nervously as he glanced down at his right shoulder, his eyes starting to water. "You're going to be gone for one year and one year only, right?" The Marauders stole a few guilty glances at one another as Peter started to panic.

"Well, if we complete all the stupid goals, we can come back for seventh year." Remus muttered, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. Sirius and James nodded their heads in agreement and Peter's eyes widened with fear.

"What goals?!" He chirped, his eyes moving between his three ashamed friends. "I thought the only punishment was going to a muggle school for a year."

"Yeah, we all thought that. But, Remus read in the pamphlet that if we don't complete all the goals we, uh, well..." Sirius answered, but trailing off at the end; he wasn't able to summon the courage to inform his friend about the bad news. Luckily, Remus saw his hesitation and finished his sentence.

"They would expel us. We wouldn't be able to finish our seventh year of magical education. I mean, we could continue to attend Cambridge High, but they wouldn't give us fake grades for our tests. Basically, our lives would be ruined." Remus whispered, shoving his hands into his robe's pockets and staring down at the tile floor. Their punishment was extremely severe, and the three boys tried to negotiate with the Headmaster before they started towards the hospital wing. But, the rules were set and they couldn't do anything to change them, not even Professor Dumbledore.

The room went quiet as the boys minds wandered through the topic of staying in the muggle world for the rest of their lives. Sirius glanced up at James, and was startled to see him holding his glasses in his hand and rubbing the bridge of his nose; the troublemaker rarely worried and usually pushed away these types of stressful situations. But, this time was different, the Marauders knowing all too well that messing up meant destroying their lives.

"Look, we're going to be fine." Sirius stated cheerfully as he reached towards James' shoulder and patted it reassuringly. James glanced up at his best friend's brightening smile; the warmth of the grin melted away his anxiety just as quickly as it came. He shot back a beam to Sirius that stretched ear to ear, sending it to his other friends around the room.

"You think you'll be able to finish them all?" Peter asked, the bottom of his lip trembling slightly in fear of losing his three closest friends.

"Of course, we're the Marauders!" Sirius joked, his grin widening with hope as his joy started to spread throughout the room. "They're not even that hard. All we have to do is go to a school dance, watch some sports, learn a language, and do an after-school activity. Trust me, I think we'll be able to finish them."

Peter slowly nodded his head as he massaged his right shoulder, the pain still throbbing from when James had touched the area. James rolled his eyes at his exaggerated reaction, but he let it slide; he wanted to at least try having a sincere farewell with one of his best friends. Before anyone could speak up, Madam Pomfrey pokes her head through the curtain surrounding Peter's hospital bed.

"Dumbledore has the portkey ready. It leaves for the England airport in three minutes. Best wrap things up before you miss it." Madam Pomfrey informed. Usually, she would have been much more severe with her instructions, but even she would miss healing the troublemakers after any tomfoolery they committed. Remus thanked the woman as she left, and turned back to Peter's bed.

"Well, I guess this is it." Remus simply stated, crossing his arms in dismay with the Ministry's rush of actions.

"Yeah," James joined as he started to rub the back of his neck, "Don't worry, though, we'll be back." Peter slowly nodded his head and wished his three friends goodbye as they exited the closed space.

"Good luck." He yelled back as they shuffled through the curtains. Sirius chuckled at his comment before following James and Remus; he turned on his heel and stared at Peter, his hand still holding the curtain open.

"Thanks. We're gonna need it."

┈┈┈┈┈◦•✩•◦┈┈┈┈┈

Sirius and James soon gave up on the pamphlet; half of the terms in the brochure confused the boys and they knew best not to wake a sleeping Lily. The 14 hours were slow and painful, but they all found different ways to cope through it. Lily mainly slept throughout the flight. However, she would pull out a book and read for the short periods of time she was awake. Remus was the opposite, studying muggle objects for most of the flight, yet taking small naps when he was too exhausted to keep his eyes open. James and Sirius became uninterested fairly quickly with their techniques, so they shuffled through multiple options; they varied from annoying the people seated in front of them, to flirting with the women flight attendants. But, as tedious as the trip was, the teenagers survived the long-some journey and the plane finally landed onto the San Diego runway.

Once the wheels of the plane touched the ground, Lily was startled awake by her head slamming into the glass window. A loud vibration rattled throughout her body as she brought a hand up to the back of her skull, the girl wincing in pain. Sirius noticed her grimace and ache, but he merely brought his arms up to his face and tried to hide his snickering. Of course, he failed miserably, causing Lily to curse under her breath and send quite a rude hand gesture Sirius' way.

The plane rolled through the taxiway and arrived at the boarding gate; the seatbelt signs let out a soft ding as the lights of the signal blinked off. Instantly, the passengers all stood simultaneously and reached above their seats, grabbing their carry-on luggage and hoisting it onto the carpet floor. Lily glanced down at her seatbelt and pulled on the release trigger. The strap slid into the holster and the belt disappeared. As the girl stood, she noticed how much trouble the three boys were having with unbuckling their safety belts. James was pulling on opposite sides of the cloth material, trying to force it apart. Sirius, who was sitting besides Lily, had noticed the small, metal release trigger she used to unfasten the belt; unfortunately, he had became somewhat preoccupied with the sound. He was pulling it just far enough so when he let go, it would make a clicking sound, but refuse to unclasp. Luckily, Remus had caught onto the concept of the seatbelt soon enough and helped James; Lily quickly gave in and decided to assist Sirius as well.

"I swear, I tried that already!" James complained as Remus leaned over and simply pulled on the release switch. The seat belt slid back into place and James slowly raised himself upright.

"I'm sure you did." Remus replied, subtly smirking as he walked out into the aisle and shoved his muggle artifact book back into his satchel. Ultimately, Sirius had figured out how to unbuckle his seat belt and they all filed out of the plane. After they gathered their luggage from the conveyor belt (again, Sirius and James tried to climb onto the moving loop to appear as if they were surfing) Lily waved down a bright yellow taxi.

"How does it move?" James whispered to a tired and displeased Lily, her sleep mask sticking out from her pant's pocket.

"Are we really doing this now?" Lily muttered, rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. Her question was answered by James' continuous expression of eagerness. "Fine. See the exhaust coming out of the back? That's the gas being burnt off from inside the engine." Lily pointed at the gloomy smoke drifting out of the car, explaining the resolution as if she was talking to a three-year old.

"An engine?" James asked, even more curious and infuriating than he was before. Lily rolled her eyes at his constant questions, and shrugged off his queries; instead of clarifying the facts, Lily focused on the taxi driver approaching her, James, Remus, and Sirius.

James appeared as if he was about to persist in his efforts to receive his answer, but he was just as drowsy as Lily and his friends. So, for once, he decided to liberate his grudge. When the taxi pulled up to the teenagers, the cab man exited the car and helped heave their luggage into the back of the bumblebee-yellow car. Luckily, the car was more of a van and had three rows of seats; the drivers seat, the middle row, and the back section. Lily gave him the address to their location (Dumbledore hadn't been very specific on where they were staying) and the driver stated that the drive would take around 30 minutes. Even with all the interest James, Sirius, and Remus had generated from their new surroundings, they were much too tired to ask questions, and everyone immediately fell asleep in the passenger seats.

Eventually, they slowly came out of the peaceful state of sleep and realized that the taxi driver was steadily rolling into a two-car driveway. The building was a large, beautiful two-story house; thick, green vines climbed the sides of the house and wound around the multiple windows alongside the front of the home. Beige, off-white paint neatly coated the outer walls of the house and accents of deep oak hinted at the rims of the windows. But, the greatest deepest color of the house was located in the centered front entrance. The towering doorway had spiraling designs of etched details overlying the deep color of chestnut oak. After a couple moments of the dumbfounded teenagers staring at the house in awe, they stole a few glances with one another prior leaving the taxi. The four teenagers  hesitantly shuffled into the main hallway of their new home, their baggage positioned alongside the wall.

Remus suggested that they start to create room arrangements, but before he could even finish, Lily had already found her way to the nearest room at the top of the stairs, lugging her suitcase inside the private room before slamming the door shut. Remus, James, and Sirius jumped slightly at the sound of the door against the frame; however, they were much too tired to make any effort in complaining about Lily choosing the first bedchamber. The boys climbed up the staircase side by side, and they were happy to find a nearby room containing three twin-sized beds. Almost immediately, the exhausted, soon-to-be juniors dropped their bags onto the ground and flopped onto the beds.

Obviously, no one wanted to waste any time or energy on bed placements, for tomorrow withheld an extremely crucial event. Tomorrow, the four teenagers were going to experience high school for the very first time.

And, though it didn't show, they were all deeply terrified.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

"Well, this is it."

Lily Evans was whispering to Remus from the sidewalk; she stood besides him to force Sirius and James to wait behind them. Young adults ranging from nervous freshmen to confident seniors strode past the British children, oblivious that they were the new students. After a night of deep sleep, Lily somehow snapped herself out of the trance 30 minutes before the beginning of school; the girl was almost never late, and she wasn't going to have her first day of high school set a record-breaking tardy in her near perfect attendance. With that motivation, she was able to rush everyone out of the house in 18 grueling minutes (which James and Sirius were quite happy to bring up when Lily was furious with their sluggish morning routines) and spend the remaining time walking to the school. Luckily, the house was situated in a neighborhood so close to the school, that they were able to briskly walk to the building with 5 minutes to spare.

"Sorry this is a little different than Hogwarts." Lily quietly apologized to Remus as she laid her hand onto his shoulder. He cocked his head towards the girl and nodded his head, his eyes filling with hope and kindness.

"It's not your fault, Lily." He reassured, a slight smile starting to etch across his face. "You just got dragged into the mess we created... Well, the mess they created." The boy turned around to face Sirius and James; Sirius had let out an impressive whistle at two younger girls who had shuffled past. The sophomores were now leaning into each other, giggling and gossiping about the mischievous child's bold behavior. As Sirius and James leaned against the fence that separated the football field and sidewalk, they arched their heads to meet Remus' suspicious stare.

"What?" Sirius lifted his shoulders innocently as James sniggered behind his friend. "Look, going to a new school means we have to start an entirely new reputation. So, better late than never." Lily spun on her heel in annoyance and stomped up the hill, leaving the three, ridiculous children trailing behind her.

"Hey, Evans! Where are you going?" James yelled from behind as he hiked up the steep hill leading to the high school. Lily decided not to respond and she continued to trudge past other students until she reached the main doors. The doorway towered above everyone walking through; it was, at the least, eight to ten feet high. Multiple kids were strolling through the doors, surrounded by small groups of friends. Some were half asleep, while others were wide awake due to the large, empty cup of coffee in their hands. But, the one thing they all had in common was the look of dread as they walked through the entrance to Cambridge High. No one felt like going to school on a Monday morning; well, everyone except for the peppy, blonde girl standing in the middle of the doorway.

The girl was covered in gold and white, representing her school colors in quite a dramatic manner. She was wearing a leather skirt that went down to her thighs, and the material was sparkling with a soft, glittering gold. Her snow-white shirt straps sat on the sides of her shoulder and the middle was laced together with a simple bow. All of her wavy hair was pulled together in a high ponytail, but a few pieces fell in front of her eyes. The girl's eyes were an unusual shade of turquoise; at the moment, she was using them to scan the crowd of high schoolers, carefully studying each and every person that passed - briefly greeting them as they walked by. Her attention was more focused on scanning the crowd. It seemed as if she was searching for someone of general importance to her.

Soon enough, her eyes landed on Lily's head of fiercely red hair. She was about to skim over the redhead, but as she stole one more glance at Lily, her stare froze. Lily gazed back at the blonde, the green clashing with blue. The two girls did nothing except lock eyes, the blonde tightly grasping onto the bottom of her skirt. Before either of them could react to each other's appearance, James ran up behind Lily, intensely gasping for breath from the hill he just ran up. He attempted to rest his hand on Lily's shoulder, but she noticed almost immediately and shrugged it off.

"Who... who's that?" James whispered, pausing to take deep breaths of air from the large hill he had just run up. Lily ignored him yet again, instead promptly pacing towards the over-joyed blonde. A smile started to creep onto both of their faces as the wavy-haired girl decided to jog over to Lily. Once they came face to face, the blonde's smile had grown so wide, it stretched ear-to-ear.

"Lily! Is it really you?" The blonde asked excitedly, stretching her arms out to embrace her old friend in a hug.

"Tiff! I thought I'd never see you again!"

As the two girls let go of each other after greeting one another, Tiffany continued to hold onto Lily's shoulders.

"Wow, you look so much different then when we were 14! Same hair and eyes, though." Tiffany pointed out, Lily swiping her hair out her face to showcase her emerald eyes.

"Really?" Lily asked, glancing at the sides of her face to examine her locks of fire-red hair. "Well, I knew it was you the moment I saw your outfit. Never lost your taste of fashion, I see." Tiffany's face was soon blushing in slight embarrassment with her friend's kindness, but that didn't stop her from continuing to talk.

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in England?" Tiffany inquired, but before Lily could even open her mouth, the blonde's hand swung off Lily's shoulder and slapped over her own mouth. "Wait, are you one of the new transfer students?!" Her eyes were wide in anticipation as Lily opened her mouth to answer her question.

"Yeah! Isn't that great?" Lily replied, somewhat nervous about how her old friend would respond. Fortunately, she received exactly what she was hoping for.

"Really, you're staying?" Tiffany asked, a twinkle of hope in her eyes as Lily nodded her vigorously. "Jill will be so excited! We can catch up after school, when I give you and the others a tour." She swung her backpack off her shoulders and into her arms, unzipping the largest pocket in the bag. The girl then pulled out four laminated pieces of paper, each having their own sets of names and times. "These are the schedules I'm supposed to give you; I can't believe I didn't think to check the names! Oh look, I'm pretty sure you have the same classes as Jill!" Tiffany explained as she handed one of the papers to Lily. The list was lined with classes and teachers; each of the groupings were mandatory and, fortunately, Lily had received the language and elective she wished for.

Evans, Lily

Language Arts, 7:50-8:35: Mr. Williams

Chemistry, 8:40-9:25: Mr. Gomez

Art, 9:30-10:15: Mrs. Anderson

History, 10:20-11:25: Mr. Collins

Lunch, 11:30-12:15:

Pe, 12:15-1:00: Mrs. Spinella

Math, 1:00-1:45: Mrs. Richards

French, 1:50-2:35: Mrs. Chevrolet

Unfortunately, she didn't bask in glory for long.

"So, do you know where the other kids are? I need to give them their schedules and see if they're free for a tour after school." Lily groaned at this news and Tiffany cocked her head in slight confusion. As Lily's lips parted to respond to Tiffany's inquiry, she was interrupted by a curious, messy-haired boy.

"Evans, we travel all the way to America, and you didn't even think to introduce me to your friends?" James teased, appearing behind Lily with Remus and Sirius only a few steps behind. "Hey, heard you were looking for us?" Lily buried her head into her hands, while Tiffany's face lit up in excitement at the sight of the three, attractive teenagers.

"Yes! My name is Tiffany Harrington, and I'm in charge of introducing you to Cambridge High." Tiffany exclaimed, pulling out the other three schedules and preparing to hand them out. "Here are your schedules for the rest of the year; they inform you which classes and teachers you have." Before she gave the pieces of paper to James, she jerked her hand back once more to re-read the first schedule. James was now slightly annoyed and impatient with her withdrawal, and wasn't afraid to showcase his irritation.

"Wait, which one is Remus?" Tiffany requested, and as Remus steadily raised his hand, James barged in before the brown-eyed boy could speak up.

"Why does it matter what he is? He's just like us, y'know." James stated defensively, causing a hurt and taken aback expression to appear across Tiffany's face.

"I know? All I was going to say was that he had ASB with me." The blonde snapped back, bewildered and confused with his jump to the strange conclusions.

"Oh. Sorry?" James uttered, lifting his shoulders slightly.

Fortunately, the girl did not dwell on the comment for long, and quickly directed her attention to the scarred teenager; his hands were tightly wrapped around the strap of his shoulder bag, and he was looking back at Tiffany with curiosity of her intentions.

"ASB is so fun! Mr. Winkowski will love you, especially since you're friends with me! Trust me, he's one of the best teachers in the school." Tiffany eagerly declared, nearly jumping up and down due to her outburst of energy. Both Sirius and James watched in amusement as a moderately uncomfortable Remus slowly nodded his head along with her rambling.

"Well, I'm glad I know someone in ASB." He smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Since you know who I am, why don't I introduce you to my friends? This is James-" He gestured towards the boy wearing glasses, and he ran a hand through his hair at his recognition.

"Hey, pleased to-" James started, but an enthusiastic Sirius burst into the conversation and stopped James mid-way.

"I'm Sirius Black." The long-haired boy smirked as James crossed his arms and tapped his foot, exasperated with his friends keenness to meet new people. Sirius stretched out his arm to meet Tiffany's hand, shaking it with confidence.

"Nice to meet you!" Tiffany breathed, Lily rolling her eyes at Sirius' charming and troublesome smile. "It says on your schedule that you're in drama? Have you ever participated in any plays or performances?" Sirius let go of her hand and brought his own up to his chin, Tiffany sliding his new schedule into his free hand as he mocked a thoughtful expression.

"Not that I can remember. But, James and I have always had a talent for acting!" Sirius asserted, linking arms with his best friend and the two of them puffing their chests out in complacent.

"Yes, it's quite easy, don't you think? All you do is memorize some... words." James rationalized, still not entirely understanding the concept of Performing Arts; however, this didn't exactly please Tiffany.

"A professional actor wouldn't believe that's what acting is." Tiffany spat back, placing her hands on her hips. James unlinked arms with Sirius and raised his eyebrows in dismay.

"Well, a 'professional actor,'" James retorted, holding up his hands and bending them into air-quotes, "Would find that acting comes naturally." Tiffany narrowed her eyes at James' smug look, and they held eye contact for a few seconds. Thankfully, the stillness was broken up by Lily.

"Wait, does Jill still go to school here?" The redhead blurted, stealing a few glances at a nervous Remus. Tiffany quickly realized that Lily had only seen one of her childhood friends, and she still had many more to reacquaint with.

"Oh, yes! Why don't I take you to your lockers? All of them are right across from Jill and I, so we can talk every morning before class!" Tiffany discerned, grabbing Lily's wrist and practically dragging her through the main hallway of the school. Remus, James, and Sirius jauntily followed, Remus pulling out his muggle artifact book as they progressed. But, James and Sirius noticed and they tried to snatch it from his grasp.

"Moony, you're better than this." Sirius sighed as the boy held the book out of his friends' reach. "The book literally says 'muggle objects' in big, bold letters. You really think no one is gonna ask you what a muggle is?"

"I know, I'm not an idiot. I charmed the cover of it, so for muggles, it's perceived as a regular English textbook." Remus answered as he opened the book, starting in the middle of the textbook. James and Sirius stole a glance at one another, but they merely shrugged at his reply and jogged ahead to catch up to Tiffany and Lily; Remus dragged behind a little, but he didn't stray too far back. As Tiffany continued to lead the new students through the hallway, other kids lining the sides of the aisle halted their conversations to study James, Sirius, and Remus; their eyes widened as they slowly registered the fact that the transfers had finally arrived. Sirius and James glimpsed at the other kids in the corridor, sending them smiles or greetings as they passed. Finally, Tiffany reached a fork in the passage and turned right, directing her new friends to a similar hallway. But, if she had proceeded to the left, the lockers came to a stop and morphed into large classrooms, each of the doors labeled with a number to represent the class and teacher.

"Hey, Jill!" Tiffany yelled, continuing down the hallway at a much quicker pace. The girl Tiffany was yelling at immediately turned pink with embarrassment and shoved her face even deeper into the book she was reading. The brunette was wearing an oversized, white hoodie with no designs, except for a small cheetah racing through the wind in the top-left corner. Her hair was pulled into a messy bun and many pieces of the hairstyle fell in front of her face. The girl's eyes were intensely scanning the text and were colored in a dark, but comforting shade of umber. Her jeans were covered in rips and holes, and she had one knee bent to rest her foot on the locker she was leaning on. "Oh, she's always so shy." Tiffany muttered to herself as she ushered Lily down the hall.

James and Sirius were about to follow, but Remus placed a hand on each of their shoulders in disapproval. His friends turned towards him and stared at him in confusion, wondering why he was holding them back.

"Come on, Moony," Sirius whined dramatically, waving a hand at the two girls approaching the bookworm. "First impressions are very important, especially with her." James soon directed his stare of deplore towards Sirius, his eyebrows raised in slight suspicion.

"Why is she so impor-" James asked skeptically, intrigued by his friend's choice of words. But, the poor boy was interrupted yet again by Remus' explanation for his two stubborn friends.

"Look, I'm pretty sure Lily hasn't seen these people since fourth year. So, at least give her some time before you ruin the moment for her and her friends."

"Why does everyone keep interrupting me-?" James perceived deceptively; before he could finish his sentence, Sirius cut in front of his announcement.

"Fine. But once they hug, I'm going over." Sirius stated obstinately, James rolling his eyes and crossing his arms in annoyance prior to his disgruntled outcry.

"Well, apparently everyone wants to be rude today." James complained, tapping his foot of due to his friends' irritating interferences.

-ˋˏ ༻❁༺ ˎˊ-

The eager and exuberant girls approached Tiffany's locker, including the shy teenager hiding behind the doors of her own locker. Her nose was still stuck in her book, only a few pages into the first chapter. But, she continued to read, and it wasn't surprising that she didn't acknowledge (or even notice) the presence of the two juniors. Tiffany tilted her head towards Lily and subtlety rolled her eyes, causing her friend to shake her head to the ground and hide a widening grin under her hand.

Tiffany held up her hands and slapped them together, creating a loud, clapping sound that echoed throughout the hallway alongside the chatty voices of wandering students. Jill barely noted the clatter, but she was curious enough to halt her reading and lift her head out of the parchment paper. As the girl finished the page, she slowly closed the book and kept a hand inside, marking the spot where she left off. Eventually, the bookworm directed her attention to the two girls in front of her, and her eyes met Tiffany's .

"How many times do I have to tell you? If you're in front of me, just tell me, there's no need to be so extra-." Jill stopped mid-sentence as she glanced at the redhead standing (well, bouncing really) next to Tiffany. The look of glee quickly spread to Jill, her slight irritation immediately morphing into cheerfulness and pleasure. "Lily Evans?" She questioned, her empty hand hovering above her agape mouth that had dropped in astonishment. Lily's scarlet hair bounced up and down on her shoulders as she nodded her head viciously, the girl's head moving so quickly, it wouldn't be surprising if it swung off her neck.

"Jill Norwood, still a book lover I see." Lily chuckled, pointing at the teenager's book jokingly, and soon leaning in to embrace her old friend in a hug. Tiffany was happily watching the scene unfold, elation radiating through her sapphire eyes. Jill eased out of the hug and swept a piece of hair out of her face, her grin growing by the second.

"I'm guessing you're here for more then a visit?" Jill thought aloud, bringing a hand up to her chin as she examined Lily curiously.

"Yeah, I'm transferring here for at least a year, maybe two." Lily explained, her smile fading ever so slightly as she projected her final word. Tiffany didn't seem to take notice of her friend's crease of worry, but Jill did, quickly copying her look of anxiety and suspicion. However, the girl decided to push the disturbance away, realizing she would have time to contemplate the notion later.

"Wait, if you're one of the four kids moving into Cambridge High, where are the other three?" The bookworm questioned, wrapping her arms around her chest and her hands continuing to grip onto her book. Tiffany lifted her finger and parted her lips, preparing to answer Jill's inquiry, but the answer came tumbling down the hallway before Tiffany could even speak.

"You said I could go over once they had their moment!" Sirius yelled over his shoulder, jogging down the hallway alongside James. Remus was right off their tales, clutching his shoulder bag close to his side.

"No, you told yourself that! I said to leave them alone, but, as usual, you didn't listen." Remus exclaimed, his trot leisurely altering into a calm stroll as the boy gave up on controlling his misbehaving friends. James and Sirius skidded to a half in front of the three girls; Lily's head quickly retreated into her hands in discomfort for her so-called 'friends', while Tiffany wore her amusement in confidence, the girl nearly falling to the ground in laughter due to their dramatic behavior. Jill, meanwhile, simply squinted at them doubtfully, dubious of their intentions.

"Why, hello there." Sirius remarked, eyeing Jill with a hint of pleasure shining through his charming smile. "I feel as if we're in need of introductions?" He cocked his head towards Tiffany, glancing back and forth from her and Jill.

"Oh, this is Jill." Tiffany answered, gesturing towards the book-loving brunette and still recovering from her laughing fit. "Jill, this is Sirius Black, James Potter and Remus Lupin, the other new students." Tiffany held out her hand and pointed to each boy as she projected their names. Sirius ran a hand through his hair and shoved his other into the back pocket of midnight-black pants the ministry had insisted to buy, allowing them to blend in with the muggle community.

"Pleasure to meet you." Sirius stated smoothly, shooting a childish smile to the teenager. Jill, though, merely nodded her head in modest confusion with his charming choice of approach.

"Um, yeah, you too." Jill murmured awkwardly, shifting her book to rest under her right arm. Tiffany shot Jill a suppressive, but angered, glare, already knowing that her closest friend was going to have trouble coping with the three, mischievous boys.

"Well, well, well, look who finally found a-" James was mocking Sirius with delight, more then happy to embarrass him; that was until Sirius moved his foot onto James', applying as much pressure as he could. James brought his leg up to his arms and rubbed his throbbing toes, glowering furiously at a smirking Sirius. "Um, ow! Was that really necessary?" James whined, elbowing his friend in the ribs.

"No, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't have done it." Sirius chuckled, his grin now stretching ear-to-ear. Lily rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in indignation with their tomfoolery, leaning on the locker to the right of Tiffany. Jill glanced at Tiffany knowingly, the girl somewhat frustrated that she was talking to foolish British children instead of reading. Tiffany, though, ignored her desperate plea for solitary, alternatively focusing her attention on Remus; he was, at the moment, approaching the group and sorting through certain items in his book bag, shuffling past his askew papers and chipped pencils.

"Hey Moony, this is..." James declared deliberately, but he stopped in-between words and started to snap his fingers in attempt to remember something. "What was your name again?" Jill let an exasperated sigh as she re-opened her book and gave up on interacting with the people surrounding her.

"My name is Jillian Norwood, but you can call me Jill," The girl reminded him, blowing her hair out of her face in displeasure with his forgetfulness, "Thanks for remembering." Before James could interfere with her somewhat icy comeback, Remus took the lead instead.

"Sorry about him, he has no filter when he talks." Remus smiled, causing Sirius and Tiffany to snigger at James' wounded and sentimental gasp, while a satisfied Lily formed a small smile. James was about to disagree (again) with his friend, but Remus continued to talk with Jill, walking around Sirius and an angered James. "You like to read?" He asked intriguingly, pointing at the book sprawled out on her hand. The girl glimpsed down at the burgundy book and displayed it for Remus, who was now peeking over her shoulder. The cover was a plain, matte vermillion, but the title glimmered with a hint of silver and gold; the words on the front read The Fractured Bow.

"Yeah, I usually read when we're not in class. I just finished my last book, so I'm starting a new one I found in the back of the school library. Mrs. Hatch, our librarian, recommended it..." Jill explained, her fingers tracing the indents of the cursive writing as she directed nearly all of her attention on the swirling motion of her hand. The girl, unfortunately, was quite timid when it came to new people, and felt uncomfortable having a one-on-one conversation with them.

"What's your favorite genre?" Remus wondered aloud, gently trying to get her to open up and let down her guard. "Action, horror, comedy?"

"Romance?" Sirius murmured under his breath, watching Jill's every move as she listened to Remus' question. The statement was supposed to be heard by him and only him; but, due to Tiffany's keen sense of hearing she had acquired over her years of gossip, she apprehended his whisper. The blonde's eyes widened in realization and she forced her laugh down her throat, deciding to discuss the topic with Sirius if and when they weren't with Jill. She was extremely protective over the oblivious brunette, and she wasn't going to let some random new student win her over; then again, maybe it was time for Jill to start finding someone, even if she and her parents hated the very thought...

"Um, I really like fantasy adventure books. You know, magic and enchantments, and I guess romance too. Oh, and horror." Jill proclaimed, looking up at an intrigued Remus every few seconds. The bookworm always had certain genres she preferred over one another; but, honestly, she would read anything if it got her out of a conversation.

"That's-" Remus started, struggling to get the girl to talk. Suddenly, a long-haired boy jumped into the conversation, a glimmer of rascality shining through his smirk.

"Interesting." Sirius interrupted, a playful smirk dancing across his lips. She examined the boy up and down, quite doubtful of his affirmations. Remus, meanwhile, stood behind Jill, and shot a 'what are you doing?!' look towards his desperate friend; unfortunately, this only fueled Sirius to continue his statement. "You don't seem like the type of girl to be into stuff like that."

"What do you mean 'type of girl'? Are you saying only certain women can read?" Jill slowly requested, crossing her arms uncertainly as Remus slapped his forehead with his left hand.

"No! No that's not what I meant. What I meant was that I've never met a lot of girls into horror... Well, there was that girl I met a few years ago, she loved that sort of stuff. I remember her telling me about it before we made out in the school closet-." Sirius trailed off, rapidly realizing that he probably shouldn't talk about his past "girlfriends" when he was attempting to flirt with an attractive bookworm. Fortunately, Jill simply shrugged off the sentence and was already finding her eyes lingering back to her hardback book, the girl only able to muster up enough energy to stay away from the comforting pages of her story.

"Oh ok, um, sounds great..." Jill hummed dubiously, contentedly opening her book and picking up from where she had left off. Remus rolled his eyes at Sirius, and he left the girl in peace, elbowing Sirius in the ribs as he shuffled past his friend in modest dissatisfaction with the little chat he had with Jill. Sirius merely shoved his hands in his pockets and smirked as he started to listen in on the conversation occurring between James, Tiffany, and Lily.

"Your lockers are right across from us." Tiffany explicated, signaling to the opposite side of the hallway. There were four, light blue lockers that had been scrubbed clean; they abundantly stood out against the decorated and dirty lockers.

"And we're allowed to decorate them?" Lily proposed, examining the details of the lockers surrounding them; they ranged from calming colors, to vibrant tape lining the entire door.

"Yes! Jill didn't really put to much effort in her's-" Tiffany exclaimed, being interrupted by an irritated bookworm who continued to read in silence.

"Can you paint a sunset in 30 minutes?" Jill started, not putting much effort into complaining with her friend's statement as she nodded to the door to the left of her head. It was adorned with five to six stickers resembling the comforting scene of the beach; the designs ranged from sketches of a sun setting over the ocean to detailed drawings of sea creatures.

"-But I spent three weeks on my locker when we came here for freshmen year!" Tiffany boasted, finishing her sentence with a confident beam and crossing her arms contently. James frowned at this news and raised an eyebrow along with a cold-stone expression.

"Really?" James questioned, smirking at Tiffany's slight hesitation. "You spent three weeks to decorate some stupid cupboard?"
Tiffany narrowed her eyes at the delighted boy and uncrossed her arms, setting one of her hands onto the side of her hip. She didn't say anything until she leaned off the locker she was on and showcased her design with pride. The locker was covered in hot pink, and in the middle was a large, rose-gold 'T' glittering in the light of the lamps hung from the ceiling. Surrounding the letter were multiple pictures of Tiffany and her friends, mainly her cheer squad or Jill (the ones with Jill were taken separately). The girl presented her creation proudly, her simper growing by the second as James tried to hide his look of fascination.

"I have the most decorative locker in the school. I even had to ask the school for permission to color it pink."

"More like you bribed them.." Jill whispered under her breath as she gently closed her book and placed it into her blue and white striped backpack. Tiffany's jaw dropped open and she slammed her locker shut, furious with the small smile inching across Jill's face as she organized her locker and stored her English books in her bag.

"I did not!" Tiffany voiced, crossing her arms in annoyance with James' pleased smile and Jill's infrequent smirk. "My parents simply... donated 200 dollars to the Run for Heart program, that's all!"

"That's the definition of a bribe." Jill answered, swinging her bag over her shoulder and starting down the hallway. Unfortunately, Tiffany was not done with their argument.

"Hey, you can't just walk away from this conversation, especially when you're wrong!" Tiffany fumed, but Jill ignored her, instead turning her head around and nodding at the wall above Tiffany's locker. The angered girl flipped her hair as she spun her neck around to inspect what Jill was signaling at. Above the group of teenagers was a ticking clock, the small, red hand inching closer to the large 12 as the seconds passed.

"Oh, the bell's about to ring." Tiffany grumbled, frustrated that Jill had a decent reason to halt their squabble. "We have language arts for first period, so if you guys have that class, I can show you?" The kids nodded their heads in unison and Tiffany gestured for them to follow her. James and Sirius walked alongside her, chatting her ear off about the school (which she was quite delighted about) whereas Lily and Remus dragged behind.

"So, Language Arts?" Remus proposed, reading through his laminated schedule. "Do you know what that is?"

"It's a class where you learn how to write, you read a bit, and sometimes you present projects in front of the class. If I remember correctly." Lily hastily added her last sentence at the sight of Remus' somewhat puzzled expression.

"Interesting..." Remus trailed off, studying the other meanings of his classes. "Uh, what's Chemistry?" He asked, pointing at the class below Language Arts. Before Lily could answer his question, an exuberant Tiffany scurried over to them.

"This is Mr. Williams class, come on!" Tiffany predicated, rushing into the door right before James could. As she entered the classroom, James looked daggers into the back of her head before following her with a curious Sirius right on his tale.

"Well Remus, I'll tell you one thing," Lily uttered glancing up at her mystified friend as a ring sounded throughout the building and other high schoolers swarmed the hall, "This is going to be one, interesting year."