Thicker than Water (Marauders Era)

15 January, 1978 - Back to School

The morning of their departure for Hogwarts was the usual slightly mad rush to get cases packed and items stored away and figure out where in the hell James's jumper had ended up. The answer to that last issue, it turned out, was in Sirius's suitcase, which sparked a slew of bickering that pervaded the house for the rest of the morning.

The whole chaotic process was thrown into rather stark relief by the presence of Lavinia, who walked down the stairs early, her face and neck healed, her case completely packed and her jacket folded neatly over one arm. She then proceeded to spend the entire rest of the morning perched on the armrest of the couch, watching the rest of them with her head cocked, as though the whole thing was some particularly fascinating exhibit at the zoo.

Not too much later, Remus joined her in the living room and stood next to her, watching carefully.

"You know, I always thought I was the weird one," he commented thoughtfully as James ran back upstairs for the fourth time in the last twenty minutes, shouting that he'd forgotten to pack socks.

Lavinia hummed contemplatively. "Why didn't they pack last night?" she asked, knowing it was probably a stupid question.

Remus shrugged. "Because they're James and Sirius," he said simply. "They don't plan ahead."

Lavinia shiffed and nodded vaguely, watching as Sirius searched through his case for his Transfiguration homework before realizing he hadn't actually done it yet and swearing vehemently. This outburst caused Mrs. Potter, who hadn't even bothered to put shoes on yet, apparently anticipating her sons' lack of preparation, to stick her head out of the kitchen and tell Sirius off for having a foul mouth. Apologizing quickly, he now began searching for his Transfiguration textbook.

"How long will this take me?" he asked the room in general as he began flipping frantically through pages.

Remus shrugged helplessly. "I didn't time it," he defended himself.

"It took me just over two and a quarter hours," Lavinia offered, trying to be helpful.

"Why would you time it?" Remus asked, frowning at her like she'd done something crazy.

It was Lavinia's turn to shrug. "I always time them. If I can get the homeworks done in less than half the time of the NEWT exam, then I figure I'm okay for timings." She frowned. "Not that mocks went very well," she added rather dejectedly.

"Mocks aren't supposed to go well," Remus snorted.

"She's weird, Rem, what's new," Sirius chimed in, sticking a scrap piece of parchment in the appropriate page and closing the book. "I can make that happen on the train. Thank Merlin McGonagall likes me." He pulled an emphatic face and started trying to shove the textbook in amongst a bunch of unfolded clothes.

Lavinia watched for a moment, mildly entertained by his struggles, before she pulled her wand out of her pocket and flicked it at his luggage. His belongings flew out then rearranged themselves and landed neatly in the case.

Sirius looked between her and his now organized luggage. "Showoff," he muttered, smiling teasingly at her.

She smirked at him and shrugged innocently, before turning away as James came barreling down the steps, a pile of socks in his hands, dropped them in his open suitcase and, before anyone could offer to help, closed the lid, sat on it, and forced the latches down.

"Well that's one way to do it," Remus commented, smiling slightly. James gave him a blank look, apparently not realizing Lavinia was standing, wand in hand and mouth halfway open to offer help.

"Is everyone almost ready?" asked Mrs. Potter, coming out of the kitchen with four little bags of snacks. There was a general murmur of agreement as she began passing out the food.