Forever and a Day ~ James Potter

Heir and Spare

Chapter Fifty-Seven

Sunday 2nd January 1977 ~ 14:32 ~ waxing moon

Returning to Hogwarts on a Sunday meant that nobody would need to change into their school robes for the first meal of the new year. And in even better news, Lily and Remus had managed to convince the fifth years to do the Prefect duties by themselves so they could stay with the others. Quite how they had managed this, they refused to elaborate.

Everybody was sitting around casually, discussing anything interesting that had happened since they last saw each other on boxing day. Rosie was chatting with Alice and Remus - who was beginning to feel the effects of the upcoming full moon that Tuesday. 

Just as the boy began to fall into a sleepy rest for the third time, Rosie decided it was probably a good idea to excuse herself to the toilet and leave him in peace. "I'll be back soon. Just please don't let him drool all over my book," she pleaded to Alice, and the girl nodded with a chuckle.

Sirius caught her eye as she slid the compartment door open and sent her a mischievous smirk, "Hey, Artois, just make sure not to blow up the Slytherin carriage on your way back this time, eh?" he snickered, and she only stuck her tongue out at him. James quickly frowned in deep confusion, staring between the both of them, but neither chose to explain the inside joke.

Rosie stepped out into the quiet corridor of the train and began to walk towards the toilets with a small smile on her face. She looked up to the end of the carriage and quickly froze in her steps, spotting her rather rotund Potions professor making his way along the narrow stretch, waving into a couple of compartments with a small gaggle of students behind him. She grimaced to herself and spun around, walking as quickly as she could in the opposite direction in a desperate attempt to escape the insufferable man.

"Ah, Miss Artois!" his voice boomed from behind her, making her slow down to a slumped stop. "Just the Gryffindor I was looking for." Rosie turned around with a false smile plastered onto her face, lifting her shoulders in a greeting.

She spotted her younger brother and Regulus Black among a few more selected Slytherins and Ravenclaws. Her stomach flipped at the sight of both of them, knowing full well that she hadn't so much as glanced in Alexander's direction since her disowning, and Regulus looked even more pale and scrawny than the last time she'd seen him.

"Any ideas where Miss Evans might be?" Slughorn was asking curiously, glancing behind Rosie's shoulders as if Lily would appear there. He looked at her with an expectant expression.

Rosie deliberated for a second whether to drop Lily in it as well but remembered how she'd left the previous year's New Year's Dinner early. So, she instead tittered slightly with an apologetic smile, "I think Lily'll still be doing her Prefect duties. Y'know how the sixth years have the most to do..."

Slughorn was already shaking his head in understanding before she even finished her excuse, so she trailed off and intertwined her fingers, waiting for his inevitable request. "Well, I'm sure you'll be perfectly capable of holding down the Gryffindor fort by yourself, eh?" he chuckled, and Rosie chuckled too. She'd hoped her days of charming people like Slughorn had ended last summer.

"Of course, professor," she said in a slight mumble as he squeezed past her and began walking ahead, seemingly pleased with the group of people he'd managed to find. She fell into step beside Regulus, who was now in between both Artois', and she felt her palms begin to turn sweaty.

They reached the other end of the carriage, and Slughorn smiled around at the group, pulling open the compartment door, "I think you'll find that this one is a little bigger than the others, so it should be a lovely fit for the few of us," he said with a small wink, making his way into the compartment.