CHAPTER ONE

Laurie Lupin was ashamed to say that she was on surprisingly good terms with Filch.

Despite the school caretaker's obvious disdain for anyone other than his cat, he didn't seem to hate her as much as everyone else. When she ran in the hallway, he would shout at a slightly lower volume. When he caught her roaming the hallways past curfew, she would only suffer one week of detention instead of two.

Ratting out the Weasley Twins definitely had its perks.

Last year, after witnessing them pull a prank in the hallway, Laurie didn't think twice when she pointed Filch in the direction of the culprits. Laurie had become so fed up with their disruptive antics in class that in that split second, she made the decision to momentarily ally with Filch. Even though she felt the glares of Fred and George for the rest of the year, she could not find it in herself to regret it.

Some would say that she was a stickler for the rules but the truth of the matter was that Laurie had no problem with rule breaking. In fact, she often indulged in breaking the odd school rule. What she had a problem with was pranks. Laurie absolutely could not stand pranks, no matter how tame they were.

Maybe she was slightly oversensitive? Or maybe she associated pranks with her estranged father and her mass murdering godfather? Either way, Laurie absolutely despised the Weasley Twins.

"You know, I am absolutely terrified of being associated with you."  Her friend, Ella, murmured as they searched for an empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express. They slipped past a group of excited First Years and Laurie winced when one of them screeched extremely loudly.

"I've been saying the same thing to you for four years." She shot back at her Slytherin friend. They were an odd pair, a Gryffindor and a Slytherin, but they found that once they looked past their house prejudices, they had more in common than they previously realised.

"Well, we can now both live in absolute terror due to our choice in friends!" Ella said with a chuckle, "I keep jolting with panic every time I see someone with red hair. If we're not careful, we will definitely become the victims of a prank, especially after you snitched on them last year!"

Laurie rolled her eyes, grunting when she was accidentally hit by the trunk of a passing Second Year student. She glared at them as she rubbed the sore spot on her lower leg, which would most definitely bruise. Which an exasperated sigh, she redirected her attention to finding an empty compartment.

"Fred and George wouldn't dare prank me." She said venomously.

Ella rolled her eyes, "Yes they would! I'm still waiting for them to retaliate; I heard that they got in a lot of trouble!"

"If they were going to attempt to prank me, they would have done it by now."

Ella shook her head adamantly, "Maybe they're planning something extra special just for you?"

Laurie made a face of disgust, "The very thought sends shivers down my spine."

Her friend chuckled before stopping by a compartment and gensured to it, "This one is almost empty! There is one person in there but I think he's asleep."

Laurie peered into the compartment thoughtfully but her face dropped when her eyes landed on the sleeping man who already occupied it. It was the first time that she had seen him in eight months. She jumped backwards with wide eyes, almost colliding with Ella, who sent her a confused look.

"There is no way in hell that we are sitting in there!" She said, pulling her friend along the corridor by the arm.

"What is it?" Ella asked as Laurie pulled them into a random compartment, which was thankfully empty.

"That," Laurie hissed, pointing to the left, "Was my father!"

Ella's eyes widened as she gaped at her friend for a solid minute. When she finally found her voice, she asked, "That was the infamous Remus Lupin? What is your Dad doing on the Hogwarts Express?"

Laurie grimaced, "Due to my incredibly bad luck, he is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."

"I'm sure that went over well." Ella said sarcastically and Laurie let out a long sigh as she collapsed onto the padded seat.

"Mum told me last week. I protested by going on a hunger strike but then she made those brownies that I really like..." Laurie began with a halfhearted laugh, "I just can't believe it, you know? I see the guy twice a year for Christmas and my birthday but now I'm going to have to see him practically every day!"

Ella gave her a sympathetic smile as she took a seat beside her, "I'm sure it won't be too bad? You can probably just treat him like every other teacher!"

"Somehow, the thought that I am just a student to him makes everything worse!" Laurie admitted, burying her face in her hands.

"Well," Ella began with a strained smile, "Maybe he wants to get to know you? He did fight for custody when your Mum got pregnant, after all. He probably would have won if not for..."

"Yeah, I know." Laurie murmured bitterly.

The conversation was cut short when the compartment door burst open. They looked up and groaned when they saw Laurie's two least favourite people, with Lee Jordan standing close behind them. Fred and George grinned down at Laurie, although she could never tell which was which.

Ella watched them nervously, tucking her hand into the pocket of the robes, where Laurie knew she kept her wand. Laurie also eyed the twins, who casually leant against either side of the compartment door frame. Lee still stood in the corridor, standing on the tips of his toes so that he could see over their shoulders.

"Hello, little fibber!" Fred and George said in sync and Laurie sent a weary smile in their direction. The less than flattering nickname predated the Filch situation. In their second year, Laurie had lied to get out of a particularly grueling homework set by Professor Flitwick. Somehow, the Weasley Twins knew that it was a lie. Despite not ratting her out, Laurie had earned the nickname 'little fibber' and she hated it immensely.

"The Trouble Twins." Laurie said, pursing her lips as she examined their grinning faces, "You've grown taller over the summer."

"And you haven't grown at all!" The one on the left commented.

"How could you possibly know that, George? I'm sitting down." Laurie frowned, shifting in her seat as they watched her intently.

"I'm Fred, he's George-"

"-And we saw you on the platform."

"Well, for your information," Laurie began, crossing her arms, "I have grown!"

"Slightly..." Ella added, earning a glare.

George gave them a charming smile as he pulled a few sweets out of his pocket and offered them to the two friends, "Want one?"

Laurie eyed the sweets skeptically, "What will they do, make my hair fall out?"

"Nope!"

"They'll just turn it blue!" George admitted with a sly smile.

"Unfortunately the change is permanent since we haven't figured out a way to reverse it yet." Fred concluded, exchanging a grin with his twin and Lee.

"I'm sure that smart wizards, such as yourselves, will be able to figure it out." Laurie commented as George pulled his hand away and shoved the magical sweets back into his pocket.

"Did you hear that, Freddie?" He grinned at his brother, "Little fibber thinks we're smart."

"Georgie, I think we have an admirer!" Fred replied, shooting a teasing smirk in Laurie's direction.

Laurie gaped in horror, "I do not admire you!"

Her denial went unnoticed and the twins continued going back and forth.

"That's why she rattled us out to Filch last year-"

"-Because she wanted to get our attention!"

"It's like a little boy pulling on a little girl's braid in the playground!"

George turned his attention back to me with a bemused expression, "If you fancied one of us, little fibber, you should have just said something!

Laurie's face was completely red, with both anger and embarrassment as she scowled at the pair of pranksters. She couldn't tell whether they were being serious or just teasing her. To be completely honest, she had no idea why they were even talking to her in the first place.

"I don't fancy one of you!" Laurie denied.

"Does that mean that you fancy both of us?" Fred grinned and she flushed even redder.

"Of course not!" She scowled at the twins, "I only tattled to Filch because your pranks are extremely annoying and disruptive to lessons!"

"Ah, so she finally admits it!" Lee said, peering over George's shoulder, "We didn't know for certain whether or not it was you."

Fred shrugged, "Thanks for confirming our suspicions, little fibber."

"We'll be in touch." George added.

They turned to leave when the train jolted forward, beginning its journey to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Unable to find something to grab onto in time, the twins wobbled, trying to find their footing. Whilst George managed to grab ahold of Lee for support, Fred wasn't so lucky. The train turned a sharp corner and he was unable to maintain his balance. Laurie watched in horror as Fred Weasley ended up falling onto her lap, his face colliding with her chest.

"Ow," Laurie whispered at the sudden weight that practically pinned her to the seat. She could hear the chuckles of George, Lee and her traitorous best friend as she scowled down at the Weasley in her lap. Fred pulled his face away from her chest, his face the same colour as his hair. He gave her a sheepish grin as he moved off of her and sat on the seat opposite her. His twin and Lee sat beside him, shutting the compartment door behind them.

"At least you had a comfortable landing!" Lee commented, gazing at Laurie's chest. George elbowed his friend, causing him to grunt and look away.

"Did you hear about Sirius Black?" Ella asked them all conversationally.

Laurie shuddered at the mention of her godfather but nodded. She had only a few memories left of him but she remembered him to be a kind, humorous man. When she was very young, Sirius and Remus used to visit her every week and she always looked forward to seeing them. She recalled her mum commenting once that Sirius and Remus were Laurie's favourite people. It was safe to say that her opinion of her father and godfather had gone down significantly since then.

"Of course we've heard about Sirius Black!" Fred said with wide eyes, finding the topic entertaining.

"It's in every newspaper!" George added.

"Even the Muggle ones!"

"How do you reckon he did it?" Lee asked and the compartment exploded into chatter, each of them discussing their theories whilst Laurie remained silent, looking out the window. After all these years, she still had difficulty accepting what Sirius had done.  She lent her forehead against the window, finding entertainment in the scenery they passed.

"You alright, little fibber?"

Laurie's head turned to find the twins looking at her whilst Ella and Lee were still engaged in conversation. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at them.

"Why do you call me that?" She asked.

George chuckled, "Because you lied to get out of homework in second year!"

Laurie rolled her eyes, "I know the origin of the nickname. I just want to know why you still call me that! I lied once and it's been following me around for three years."

"Well, George and I admired you for it!" Fred explained with a chuckle, "You lied so sweetly!"

"It was an art form!" George added.

"Not only did you get out of homework-"

"-You also guilted Flitwick into letting you leave class early!"

"We were mighty impressed! Weren't we, George?"

"We certainly were, Fred!"

Laurie looked between them, finding herself rather amused. She absolutely could not stand their immature pranks but she had to admit that they were decent people. If they weren't pranksters, Laurie might have even considered befriending them. It was too bad that the Weasley Twins would never stop joking.

"Fred, George, I apologise for getting you in trouble with Filch last year." Laurie began hesitantly, "In my defense, however, I was really stressed about exams."

"We forgive you!" They said brightly.

"But don't think that you're off the hook!" George warned her.

"No one is safe from our pranks!" Fred grinned and Laurie let out an exasperated sigh.

Being noticed by the Weasley Twins was quite possibly the stupidest thing she had ever done.

***

Rain hammered down onto the train as it headed further north. Laurie tapped her foot on the floor, since she was starting to get rather restless. The sky was a dark gray, causing the world around them to be shadowed, which meant that looking out the window was now extremely boring.

Laurie exchanged a confused with Ella as the train began to skid to a halt. They were close to Hogwarts at that point but they still had a little way further to travel.

"Surely we're not there yet?" Ella questioned.

"Maybe they need to refuel?" Lee suggested uncertainly.

The wind and rain pounded harder than ever against the train and Laurie shivered. The train came to a stop with a jolt and Laurie barely avoided being crushed by her trunk, which had fallen from the rack. Then, without warning, the lamps flickered out and they were plunged into total darkness.

Laurie sucked in a breath, the sudden darkness threatening to cause her panic. She felt childish but she had never quite gotten over her fear of the dark.

"What's happening?" She whispered, leaning into Ella's side to make sure she was still there.

"I have not the foggiest idea." George said slowly.

Laurie heard movement in the compartment, "What was that?"

"That was just Lee," Fred reassured her, "He's rummaging through his bag."

"Ah, found it!" Lee said in victory and all of a sudden, a small amount of light filled the compartment. Lee held a small long contraption, which had light coming out the end of it.

"Merlin's beard! What is that?" Ella asked, frowning at the device.

"It's a Muggle device!" Lee announced proudly, "It's called a torch!"

"I'm going to poke my head out and see what's going on." Fred said, moving towards the door. But the door slid open before he could reach it. Standing in the doorway, illuminated by the torch light, was a cloaked figure. Its face was veiled by its hood and Laurie shrunk backwards. The creature radiated cold and just being in its presence caused her to feel an immense and soul crushing sadness.

Then, just as quickly as it appeared, it was gone. The compartment door slid closed and Fred slowly sat back down, his face pale. The five students sat in stoney silence, none of them quite ready to voice what they had just witnessed.

"What is a Dementor doing on the Hogwarts Express?" Ella whispered, breaking the silence.

"I know we get into a lot of trouble but we're not criminals yet!" George attempted to joke, his laughter cold and humorless.

The lights on the Hogwarts Express turned back on and the train began to move once more.

"They were probably looking for Sirius Black!" Lee commented.

"What would Sirius Black be doing on the Hogwarts Express?" Fred argued.

A man walked along the corridor, stopping when he stood by their compartment. Laurie locked eyes with her father, who looked immensely tired. He gave her a small, reassuring smile and she gave him a jerky nod, signaling that she was okay. Remus momentarily looked over her travel companions, his eyes narrowing on Fred and George.

"Who's that?" Fred frowned as Remus continued his journey down the corridor and out of view.

"He is the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Laurie told them and they chuckled.

"He didn't seem to like us, Georgie." Fred pouted.

"Word must have reached him about our pranks!" George grinned, "We're famous, Freddie."

"Actually, he probably doesn't like you because you were both eyeing his daughter." Ella chipped in and the twins froze.

"Daughter?" They said in sync, looking towards Laurie.

"Yep." Laurie said dismissively but they didn't drop the subject.

"If your dad is a teacher, do you think you could convince him not to give us homework this year?" George asked cheekily.

"We're not very close." Laurie said slowly and the twins frowned.

"You can help us prank him if you'd like?" Fred suggested with a grin, causing Laurie to scowl.

"If I witness any more of your pranks, I am not above running to Filch!" She warned, "Pranks are extremely immature!"

"You sound like our mother." George frowned.

"In which case, your mother and I would get on great!" Laurie retorted and Fred sent her a lazy smile.

"I think our mother would love you, little fibber."