CHAPTER ONE! ༉‧₊˚✧
━━━━ ⋆𖤐₊˚.༄ ♡ ━━━━

DIYA LOVED TO watch the world through a window. Whether it was the window seat of the Hogwarts Express or the glass doors leading to her bedroom balcony, Diya's imagination ran wild when she looked out the window.

Whenever someone asked her why she spent so much time looking out of windows, her response was always the same: "I do my best thinking in the window seat."

This affinity was one that first attracted her to Sirius Orion Black. She'd noticed things about the boy that others hadn't. The way that he held himself on the Platform with his family versus the way that he acted on school grounds with his friends. The way that he had always admired the sport of Quidditch, even if he had no desire to play. The way that he admired animals that roamed on the grounds of Hogwarts.

Diya's love for looking out windows occasionally got her in trouble, however. It was especially troublesome when she was meant to be focused but was instead distracted by something as trivial as the movement of the Whomping Willow.

This particular time, Diya was admiring the bustle of Platform 9 ¾ from the comfort of her signature compartment on the Hogwarts Express. Seeing the stark difference between First Years with their tearful parents and lonely Seventh Year students made Diya wonder when things had changed. She sincerely hoped that she would still be close with her family even after her time at Hogwarts was finished.

Diya belonged to the Talwar family, a line of pureblood wizards and witches, mainly prominent in India. She was born in India to Chandrika and Abhimanyu Talwar on October 31, 1959, or Diwali of that year.

Shortly after her birth, her parents uprooted their family, and soon, Diya and her sister Zoya were living in a small town in England.

Zoya and Diya acted more like best friends rather than sisters, most of the time. Over their lifetimes, the two sisters had noticed that some other siblings sometimes carried jealousy and sometimes even hatred, a fact that they never wholly understood.

Maybe it was because the sisters were nearly the same age — Zoya being born in January 1959 and Diya born in October — the two treated each other as equals.

Although their parents moved them to England, their heritage was far from forgotten, and the only languages spoken inside the Talwar manor were of South Asian descent. Any English spoken in the house was simply for learning purposes since Abhi and Chandrika knew that Zoya and Diya would eventually have to go to Hogwarts.

Family traditions were not lost either, as both sisters had to take up sword fighting and dance as children.

The two sisters gained a bond through the mutual dislike of the rules, often going out of their way to disobey many of them.

One thing that the two sisters disagreed with, however, was their thoughts on the Patil family.

The Patil family was a very well-known pureblood family in India. They were once in a much more powerful position but lost it after the Patil patriarch came forward with his pro-muggle stance.

Only a few pureblood families ever proclaimed their admiration for muggles in India, and even though many families agreed with the position, they stayed silent in the matter or else risked losing their respect, just as the Patil family had done.

The Patil family fled to England, alongside the Talwar family, in an attempt to regain respect, albeit in a different Wizarding community. Chandrika had grown up in the same neighborhood as Mr. and Mrs. Patil, and their friendship had lasted through the years.

Diya had no issue with Mr. and Mrs. Patil, but rather their son Rahul.

The Talwar sisters and the boy had been thick as thieves when they were young, always making mischief when they were together. But things changed once Zoya was sent to Hogwarts, and it was just Diya and Rahul. The two suddenly became incredibly hostile toward each other.

Diya and Rahul's distaste for each other almost ended the years-long friendship between the Talwars and Patils, seeing as the children were unhappy. Their squabbling nearly broke Zoya's heart, and she was torn between her sister and best friend.

"Oi, Diya!" The sharp voice jolted Diya out of her reverie. "Did you hear anything that I just said, or were you too busy pointlessly staring out of the window again?"

"You know me, Lily. I think—"

"You think best in the window seat. Yeah, Di, I've heard that before." The redhead tilted her head to the side and propped her hands on her hips.

"How was your summer?" Diya asked, shifting her position now that she was no longer gazing at the Platform.

"Nevermind that. Right now, I need you to help me get away from Potter. He keeps finding me in different compartments and telling me how disappointed he is that I became a prefect!"

"Oh, come on, Lily! James isn't that bad." Diya pouted, patting the seat next to her for the redhead to take a seat. "We've been friends with him for years now. I thought that you'd learned to handle him now."

"I just wish it was summer again. I want another Potter-free summer." Lily let her head fall back against the seat.

"Bye, Frank!" A voice sounded from outside the compartment, as well as retreating footsteps. A pixie-haired girl walked in with a flushed look on her face.

"Alice!" Lily beamed, perking up suddenly and enveloping the girl in a hug.

Alice Fortescue was a girl of average height, only slightly shorter than Diya. She was overwhelmingly optimistic, according to Lily, even though it was a great trait to have. She always had a smile on her face, seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses.

She was extremely friendly and had become fast mates with her dormmates in their First Year, almost becoming the glue of their group. She was the sensible one, who broke up fights and mended friendships, even if she didn't mean to, sometimes.

"What have you two been up to?" Alice detached herself from Lily to pull Diya into a hug, rubbing her back soothingly.

Diya pulled back, "Lily here has been running away from her boyfriend."

"He's not my—"

"James still hasn't given up on that?" Alice laughed, ignoring her friend's protests.

Diya shook her head in response, letting out a laugh of happiness from seeing her friend again.

The girls' reunion was broken apart by the sound of rapping on the glass doors of the compartment.

Marlene McKinnon stood outside, repeatedly hitting the glass in an attempt to get Diya and Lily's attention. At the sight of the variety of sweets in her hands, Diya rushed over to the compartment door, sliding it open so Marlene could get inside.

Marlene McKinnon, on the other hand, was an adventurous girl who had a love for food and an even greater love for her friends. In Diya's opinion, Marlene was the most loyal person that she had ever met, willing to do anything for her friends.

Marlene was the one who would fight off anyone who troubled her friends. No matter the scenario, the girl was always there to kindly tell someone to "bugger off."

"Marls, how did you already get a hold of the sweets?" Lily giggled at the girl, who had dropped all of her sweets on the seats opposite the two. "We haven't left the station, so the trolley hasn't even begun making its rounds yet!"

"The Trolley Witch and I have an agreement," Marlene said vaguely, shrugging her shoulders before pulling her three friends into a giant group hug.

Diya laughed as the group stumbled, the ground beginning to move as the Hogwarts Express began to leave the station.

"Ah, Evans! There you are," James Potter rounded the corner, propping his hands on his knees as he bent over in exhaustion. "Been looking for you in every damn compartment."

"Can't you take a hint, Potter?" Lily asked, untangling herself from the group hug.

James frowned, opening his mouth to retort when he noticed the other girls in the compartment.

"Talwar, McKinnon, Fortescue," James nodded to each girl, who all waved back. "I'll take the hint once you go out with me, Evans."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Tell Rem that I'm looking for him."

James frowned once more but finally took the hint and nodded to the girls before leaving them alone to catch up.

The girls of Year Five Gryffindor had a love-hate relationship with the boys.

Sirius Black was a flirt who was well known throughout the school for several reasons. James Potter was a love-sick fool, who had asked Lily Evans out so many times that people weren't sure if he was joking or just desperate. Remus Lupin seemed to be the brains of the group, simultaneously being both the most learned and most mischievous. At first glance, most people didn't even notice that Peter Pettigrew was also part of their group. Once they did, they saw a thoughtful boy, who only seemed to be there as support. Frank Longbottom wasn't close to the other boys, only ever hanging around them since they shared a bunk, but he was incredibly kind and caring.

The dynamic between the boys and girls was perpetually changing. One day, the groups were inseparable, and the next, they were swearing at each other in the middle of the Great Hall. Alice blamed this on the clashing zodiac signs in the friend groups, even though they knew that it was Lily's distaste for James that caused this (inconstant) divide.

Out of the boys, Diya was personally the closest to Remus Lupin.

Diya first landed on the Marauders' radars in their second year, when she became well known as "The Girl With The Homework."

She had begun to help a few younger Gryffindor students with their assignments for classes, who had then spread the word to their friends in Hufflepuff. Eventually, students from all four houses began to ask Diya for help with their assignments.

Diya didn't mind, of course. Her father had always told her that knowledge was a wealth that must be shared, not hogged for selfish reasons. She enjoyed helping others feel confident in their abilities, and she wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

The Marauders steadily accumulated detentions throughout their years, leading to many incomplete assignments. It was entirely logical for them to acquaint themselves with someone who could help them.

Needless to say, the boys had been disappointed with the outcome, seeing as Diya refused to give out the answers, instead choosing to help them understand the topic

James, Sirius, and Peter stormed out of the library in foul moods, refusing to put work into their assignments. They left a bemused Remus behind, who gazed curiously at Diya.

"Hi, Diya, right?" He began, staring at the girl who was seated at one of the tables overlooking the window. "I'm R--"

"Remus Lupin." Diya finished for him, with a smile on her face. "I know."

"Remus John Lupin." Remus let slip out of his mouth. He mentally slapped himself, not knowing why he felt inclined to let his middle name slip.

"Remus John Lupin?" Diya raised an eyebrow at him in intrigue. "How come your first name is so unique, and your middle name is so... bland?"

Remus let out a snort at the girl's words, earning a stern glare from Madam Pince.

"Bland?" Remus smiled at Diya.

"Yeah, it's bland. I mean, Remus is such a cool, unique name, and then your middle name is John. Seems like kind of a letdown." Diya shrugged, deciding to change the topic. "So what can I do for you, Remus John?"

Remus felt another involuntary smile begin to grace his scarred features. He opened his mouth to start a sentence but halted at the sound of a loud gasp.

"R.J!" Diya clapped to herself.

"R.J?" Remus inquired, tilting his head questioningly.

"Remus John is too long, so I'll shorten it to R.J! What can I do for you, R.J?"

"Well, Di, I wanted to know—"

"Di?"

"What, you can have R.J, but I can't have Di?"

Diya let out a musical laugh, nodding to the boy in agreement with his reasoning.

"I was wondering, Di," Remus smiled at the girl sat across from him, "If you wanted to study together sometime. The boys always wait until the last minute to complete their assignments, so I usually do them alone, but if you ever need a study buddy—"

"I would love to study with you sometime, Remus." Diya cut off the boy once more, putting an end to his rambling as his speech continued to get faster. "I'm free most of the time, so I'm sure if you corner me in the hallway or something, we can study whenever."

Remus looked over the stack of books that Diya was beginning to pull out from her bag.

"Unfortunately," she started, "I have a First-Year coming soon so I can help him with a charm he can't quite grasp, so we can't study just yet. But I promise I'm usually free!"

Remus nodding his head, smiling gratefully at the girl, "Thank you, Diya."

Diya nodded in return, watching as Remus slid his chair back and stood up, preparing to exit the library.

"See you around, R.J!" Diya waved playfully to the boy as he strolled out of the library, looking back to give her an enthusiastic wave.

༉‧₊˚✧

Diya felt a chocolate frog being shoved into her mouth as she shot awake.

"Chocolate Frog, Di?" Marlene asked, trying to shove the frog back into Diya's mouth.

Diya spluttered and waved her hands wildly around her face, trying to shoo Marlene away.

"Someone's cranky!" Marlene sang, rolling her eyes.

"With good reason!" Diya complained, wiping chocolate off of her lip. "You shoved a chocolate frog into my face, disturbing my peaceful nap!"

The girls were distracted from their bickering by a knock on the compartment door.

"Can you guys keep it down?" Peter Pettigrew spoke, rubbing his eyes sleepily.

"Sorry, Pete." Diya sighed, still checking for leftover chocolate stains. "Tell Marlene not to be so annoying."

"Tell Diya not to call me annoying!" Marlene cut in, making Peter wince slightly.

"Oi!" Another male voice came from the compartment door. "Some people are trying to nap!"

Diya pointed to the door in agreement, making Marlene roll her eyes.

Alice and Lily giggled to themselves, clearly enjoying the scene unfolding.

Sirius stood in the compartment entryway, his shoulder-length hair a mess and his eyes half-closed, sleepily.

Once Lily was finally able to calm her giggling, she cleared her throat, nodding with a smile on her face.

"We'll be quieter, Black, I promise." Lily smiled.

Sirius nodded, his eyebrows furrowed, before whipping around and going back to his own compartment, dragging Peter behind him.

"He got cute over the summer!" Lily gasped back to the rest of the train.

"Don't let James hear that," Alice says, lightly pushing Lily. "I fear he may combust."

Lily rolled her eyes, "Just because he's cute doesn't mean he's any less annoying. I'm simply stating a fact."

Diya couldn't help but agree.

Neither could half of Hogwarts, though, seeing as though most students were more than familiar with Sirius Black.

As the hours passed, the girls talked about their summers — Alice spent time with Frank, Marlene with her family, and Lily inside her room, avoiding her sister. Their stories of fun were cut off when Remus came to the compartment, taking Lily away for their first meeting as Prefects. Lily was more than excited, and her status of Prefect was the main subject of her letters, as well as her stories from home.

"She's never gonna stop talking about this Prefect thing, is she?" Marlene asked, leaning back in her seat,

"Definitely not." Alice laughed, looked at Diya, who was too busy reading, to notice that Lily had even left the compartment.

"Oi! You need to be present with us until we get to Hogwarts and have to listen to several old people scold us for things that we haven't done yet." Marlene snapped in Diya's face, snatching her book away and ignoring her protests.

"Fine," Diya sighed before moving closer to the window and sinking into her seat.

The three girls were interrupted once again by another knock on the compartment door.

The door slid to the side to reveal James Potter, Sirius Black, and Peter Pettigrew, who weaseled their way into the compartment, pushing Diya further into her seat.

"Pete suggested we squeeze in here with you guys until Remus and Lily get back," James announced, pushing Alice and Marlene toward the window.

"Did you literally have to squeeze in here?" Marlene groaned, trying to readjust. "You lot seem to have gotten bigger over the summer."

"Wanna find out for sure, McKinnon?" Sirius asked, raising an eyebrow and winking.

"Correction: Bigger and more annoying." Marlene restated, groaning as Diya let out a snort of laughter.

Diya tried to ignore Sirius's arm as he placed it behind her shoulders, trying to be nonchalant.

She turned to the window instead, studying the foliage as the train zoomed past it, and enjoying the company of her friends.

༉‧₊˚✧
(a/n)

FINALLY I GOT AROUND TO REWRITTING THIS CHAPTER

i scrapped a ton of shit bc it's boring and i don't want to introduce the book that way,,

i'll probably end up rewriting this again bc i switch up on myself very often, but for right now, i like the chapter ESJRHFKSDFGJF

anyway, tysm for reading and i hope you stick around :)